VV  I.JL/IIL 


THE 


THIRD  READER 


GIFT  OF 


EDUCATION 


THE  WIDE   AWAKE  THIRD  READER 


Che  Slide  Hwahe  Series 


THE  WIDE  AWAKE  PRIMER,  30  cents 
THE  WIDE  AWAKE  FIRST  READER,  30  cents 
THE  WIDE  AWAKE  SECOND  READER,  35  cents 
THE  WIDE  AWAKE  THIRD  READER,  40  cents 


THE    CHILDREN    SCRUB   THEIR   WOODEN    SHOES. 
(From  "  Dutch  Children.") 


THE  WIDE  AWAKE 
THIRD  READER 


BY 

CLARA  MURRAY 
x> 

AUTHOR    OF    "THE    WIDE    AWAKE    PRIMER,"    "THE    WIDE    AWAKE    FIRST 
READER,"    "  THE    WIDE    AWAKE    SECOND    READER,"    ETC. 


BOSTON 

LITTLE,    BROWN,    AND   COMPANY 
1912 


COPYRIGHT,  1908, 
BY  LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY. 

All  rights  reserved. 


Gift 

R  .D  .LINGUIST 
EDUCATION  DEFT. 


printers 
jj.  J.  PARKHILL  &  Co.,  BOSTON,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 


IN  this,  the  third  reader  of  the  series,  great  care  has  been  taken, 
not  only  in  selecting  material  suited  to  the  needs  and  ability 
of  the  pupil,  but  also  to  arrange  the  selections  so  that  he  may 
develop  the  habit  of  acquiring  interesting  facts  as  he  reads. 

In  the  first  two  grades  the  children  need  to  learn  the  mechanics 
of  reading,  —  the  recognition  of  words,  the  ability  to  find  out  new 
words  for  themselves  by  means  of  phonics,  correct  pronunciation, 
enunciation,  inflection,  expression,  etc.,  but  in  this  grade  especial 
stress  may  be  laid  on  learning  by  reading,  —  getting  the  fact  and 
remembering  it.  This  prepares  the  pupil  for  the  actual  work  of 
studying,  when  he  is  given  a  book  and  asked  for  the  first  time  to 
"  learn  the  lessons."  The  questions  at  the  end  of  many  of  the 
lessons  should  be  read  and  answered  by  the  pupil  after  he  has  read 
the  selection.  His  answers  should  be  thoughtfully  prepared  and 
correctly  stated. 

Especial  attention  is  called  to  the  fact  that  the  selections  in  this 
book  are  almost  exclusively  copyrighted  material,  and  have 
never  been  and  cannot  be  used  in  other  series  of  readers.  This 
avoids  the  tiresome  repetition  of  stories,  read  first  in  one  book 
and  then  again  and  again  in  others. 

Many  of  the  selections  are  valuable  from  a  literary  standpoint, 
and  the  pupils  will  read  with  real  enjoyment  stories  by  Laura 
Richards,  Mary  E.  Wilkins,  Anna  von  Rydingsvard,  Helen  Hunt 
Jackson,  and  other  authors,  noted  for  their  skill  in  writing  stories 
for  children. 

6 


The  selections  which  deal  especially  with  child  life  and  interests 
in  other  countries  will  broaden  the  child's  view  of  the  world, 
prepare  him  for  the  study  of  geography,  and  help  him  to  be  a 
wide  awake  child,  just  the  child  whom  this  Wide  Awake  Series 
is  intended  to  develop. 

The  selections,  "  Little  Grandmother's  Shoes,"  "  Children  of 
a  Sunny  Land,"  "  The  Little  Plant,"  "  The  Little  Goatherds," 
"  Great-Great-Grandma's  Christmas  in  England,"  "  The  Whip- 
ping Boy,"  "The  Christmas  Spruce  Tree,"  "The  Eve  of  St. 
Nicholas,"  "  The  Little  Turkeys,"  "  The  Children  of  Armenia," 
"  Ahmow,  —  the  Wolf,"  "  The  Emperor  and  the  Peasant,"  and 
:i  The  Christmas  Monks,"  are  used  by  arrangement  with  the 
Lothrop,  Lee  and  Shepard  Company. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

ALL  THE  CHILDREN  OF  ALL  THE  WORLD           9 

THE  SONG  SPARROW'S  WORK        .       .       .     Etta  Austin  Blaisdell       .  15 

DUTCH  CHILDREN 20 

A  LITTLE  DUTCH  GIRL Edith  Colby  Banfield       .  25 

THE  GREAT  FEAST Laura  E.  Richards  .        .  26 

LITTLE  GRANDMOTHER'S  SHOES 30 

LITTLE  -  FOLK  LAND        .....     Edith  Colby  Banfield       .  33 
CHILDREN  OF  A  SUNNY  LAND 

A  STRANGE  MILK  WAGON 35 

A  RIDE  IN  A  CHAIR 36 

THE  CARNIVAL 39 

THE  LITTLE  PLANT Anna  von  Rydingsvard  .  42 

Two  WAYS Laura  E.  Richards          .  44 

A  SONG  IN  THE  WOODS Louise  C.  Moulton  .       .  46 

How  THE  CORN  GREW Julia  Dalrymple       .       .  47 

"  Do  You  KNOW?  "         .....     Edith  Colby  Banfield       .  51 

THE  LITTLE  GOATHERDS 52 

Swiss  CHILDREN 56 

LULLABY  -  LAND Edith  Colby  Banfield       .  60 

THE  STONE  BLOCKS Laura  E.    Richards         .  61 

GREAT  -  GREAT  -  GRANDMA'S  CHRISTMAS  IN  ENGLAND      ....  63 

THE  WHIPPING  BOY 69 

THE  CHRISTMAS  SPRUCE  TRHE      .       .        .     Anna  von  Rydingsvard  .  72 

A  ROSE       ........    Emily  Dickinson      .       .  76 

7. 


~ti  8  8«- 

PAGB 

THE  EVE  OF  ST.  NICHOLAS 77 

ROBIN  REDBREAST William  Allingham .       .  81 

"  THE  LITTLE  TURKEYS  " 

IN  SCHOOL 83 

AT  HOME 88 

"  GILLYFLOWER  GENTLEMAN  "...    Laura  E.  Richards  .        .  91 

THE  RULER Laura  E.  Richards  .       .  93 

THE  MOON Edith  Colby  Banfidd       .  95 

THE  CHILDREN  OF  ARMENIA 96 

ARMENIAN  HOMES 100 

THE  NEST Helen  Hunt  Jackson       .  104 

AHMOW  —  THE  WOLF Frederick  Schwatka  .       .  106 

ESKIMO  CHILDREN 113 

THE  DREAM -Snip Blanche  M.  Channing     .  117 

A  TRIP  TO  JAPAN            Charlotte  Chaff ee  Gibson  118 

URASHIMA Charlotte  Chaffee  Gibson  125 

A  DAY Emily  Dickinson      .       .  130 

THE  ANTS'  MONDAY  DINNER  ....    Helen  Hunt  Jackson       .  131 

MY  ANT'S  Cow Helen  Hunt  Jackson       .  139 

COLORADO  SNOW  -  BIRDS         ....     Helen  Hunt  Jackson       .  148 
THE  PETERKINS'   EXCURSION  AFTER  MAPLE  * 

SYRUP Lucretia  P.  Hale     .       .153 

THE  GRASS Emily  Dickinson      .       .164 

SUNSET Emily  Dickinson      .       .  165 

THE  BABY  SQUIRRELS Julia  A.  Schwartz   .        .  166 

THE  BABY  THAT  SLEEPS  IN  A  POCKET       .    Julia  A.  Schwartz   .        .  180 

THE  EMPEROR  AND  THE  PEASANT        .       .     Anna  von  Ry dings v'drd  .  194 

THE  CHRISTMAS  MONKS Mary  E.  WUkins 

THE  GARDEN 203 

PETER  AND  THE  PRINCE 206 

THE  PRETTIEST  DOLL 210 

CHRISTMAS  GIFTS  214 


THE  WIDE  AWAKE  THIRD 
READER 


ALL   THE   CHILDREN   OF   ALL   THE   WORLD 

I  wish  you  would  try  to  think  this  morning  about 
all  the  children  in  all  the  world. 


There  are  thousands  and  thousands  of  them,  and 

they  are  doing  all  sorts  of  things  this  very  minute. 

Some  of  them  are  wide   awake  and  some  are  in 


—     :   cc<      ^  1O  8*~ 

bed  and  fast  asleep.  Some  are  in  school  and  some 
are  playing  out  of  doors. 

Some  live  in  such  hot  countries  that  they  lie  in 
the  shade  of  big  palm  trees  to  keep  cool.  Others  are 
in  such  a  cold  country  that  they  see  nothing  but 
ice  and  snow,  and  they  are  dressed  in  furs  from  head 
to  foot. 

When  you  read  stories  about  the  children  in  othex 
lands,  do  they  seem  to  you  like  fairy  stories? 

I  want  you  to  know  that  all  these  children  are  real 
boys  and  girls,  and  they  work  and  play  and  have 
happy  times  together,  just  as  you  do. 

Perhaps  when  you  read  about  the  children  in  the 
far  North  you  will  wish  that  you  were  an  Eskimo  boy, 
living  in  a  snow  hut,  wearing  thick  furs, -and  riding 
.  over  the  fields  of  snow  in  a  sled  drawn  by  dogs. 

Or  perhaps  you  would  rather  be  a  little  Indian 
and  live  in  a  wigwam  in  the  forest,  learning  to  paddle 
a  canoe,  and  to  fish  and  hunt. 

While  you  are  here  in  this  beautiful  schoolroom, 
learning  to  read  and  write  and  draw  and  sing,  there 


-•8  11   8»- 

are  thousands  of  other  children  who  never  saw  a  school- 
house,  and  who  will  grow  up  to  be  men  and  women 
without  even  learning  to  read. 

You  can  read  stories  about  these  people,  and 
as  you  grow  older  perhaps  you  will  know  more 
about  them,  but  they  will  probably  never  hear  of 
you. 

Of  course,  there  are  many  thousands  of  children 
everywhere  who  are  in  school  this  morning. 

Think  of  all  the  boys  and  girls  in  every  town  in  the 
whole  United  States,  who  see  the  flag  with  its  stars 
and  stripes  floating  over  their  schoolhouses,  and  who 
learn  to  sing  "  America." 

In  France  the  children  wave  a  flag  of  red,  white  and 
blue,  and  learn  a  song  about  their  country,  but  their' 
flag  is  not  like  yours,  and  you  could  not  understand 
one  word  of  their  French  song. 

The  little  English  children  sing  a  song  about  their 
country  and  their  king  which  you  could  understand, 
and  they  read  in  books  like  yours.  But  then,  there 
are  the  children  who  live  in  Germany,  and  learn  to 


-•8  12  &- 

read  in  German,  and  the  children  who  live  in  Italy 
and  read  Italian  books,  and  many,  many  others. 
Oh,  there  are  so  many  children  in  the  world! 
In  Japan  and  China  the  children  use  the  queerest 
books  that  you  ever  saw.     The  words  go  up  and 
down  the  page,  and  the  stories  begin  at  the  end  of 
the  book,  and  at  the  bottom  of  the  page.    The  words 
look  like  this:  — 

Did  you  ever  see  such  funny  words? 
The   boys    and    girls   in    these    other 
countries  do  not  go  to  school  all  of  the 
time.   They  have  holidays  and  vacations, 
and  they  play  out  of  doors  in  the  long 
summer    days     and     the     cold    winter 
weather,  just  as  you  do. 
You  would  enjoy  playing  with  these  children,  even 
if  you  could  not  talk  with  them.    I  know  you  would 
like  to  fly  big  kites  with  the  boys  in  Japan,  or  skate 
down  the  canals  with  the  little  Dutch  boys. 

And  as  for  dolls!    I  am  sure  there  are  as  many  dolls 
in  the  world  as  there  are  little  girls,  and  perhaps  more, 


-*  13  S<- 

because   some   little   girls  have   so   many   dolls   that 
they  cannot  play  with  all  of  them. 
You  would  like  to  play  with  the  queer  Chinese  dolls 


in  their  beautiful  silken  robes,  or  with  the  Eskimo 
dolls  that  are  carved  out  of  bone  and  are  dressed  in 
furs  and  sealskin. 

The  Indian  girl  has  wooden  dolls  dressed  in  bright 
blankets,  with  beads  and  feathers.  The  little  French 
girl  has  a  big  wax  doll,  with  blue  eyes  that  shut 


-iS  14  &- 

when  she  lies  down,  and  pop  open  when  she  sits  up 
again.  She  wears  beautiful  gowns  and  big  hats  with 
feathers  and  ribbons. 

Wouldn't  it  be  fun  to  have  a  dolls'  party  to-day,  if 
the  dolls  from  all  over  the  world  could  come? 

These  dolls  might  be  dressed  in  furs,  or  silks,  or 
blankets;  they  might  be  made  of  wax,  or  bone,  or 
wood.  But  if  they  could  talk  they  would  tell  you 
that  the  little  girl  who  owns  them  loves  them,  and 
that,  whether  she  lives  in  a  snow  hut  or  a  tent  in  the 
desert,  she  has  a  loving  father  and  mother  and  a 
happy  childhood. 

Are  there -many  children  in  all  the  world? 

What  are  some  of  them  doing  this  very  minute? 

If  you  should  go  to  school  in  Germany,  what  would 
you  have  to  do  first? 

What  does  a  little  German  child  have  to  do  when 
he  first  goes  to  school  in  our  country? 

Tell  all  the  things  you  can  that  all  the  children  in  the 
world  do  almost  every  day. 


15 


THE  SONG   SPARROW'S  WORK 

In  the  forest  where  the  birds  live  there  is  always 
work  to  do. 


The  woodpecker  is  a  carpenter.  He  climbs  up  and 
down  the  trees  and  chops  a  hole  in  the  trunk  of  one 
of  them  to  make  his  home. 

The  crow  flies  down  to  the  ground,  and  walks  about 
in  the  fields. 


•4  16  *»• 

He  is  the  birds'  farmer.  Toward  evening,  when 
he  cries,  "  Caw!  Caw!"  he  means  that  the  earth 
needs  rain. 

The  owl  is  the  night  policeman.  He  watches  the 
rats  and  mice,  and  keeps  them  out  of  the  farmer's 
fields. 

The  kingbirds  are  the  soldiers.  They  fight  the 
birds  that  come  over  from  the  next  forest,  and  drive 
them  away. 

The  hawks  have  sharp  eyes,  and  can  see  a  long  way. 
They  are  the  scouts,  and  tell  the  soldiers  when  the 
enemy  is  coming. 

The  whip-poor-wills  can  see  in  the  night,  so  they  are 
the  birds'  night  watchmen. 

The  orioles  are  weavers.  They  weave  their  nests, 
and  hang  them  in  the  tallest  trees. 

One  of  the  birds  is  a  thief,  and  steals  eggs  from  the 
nests  of  the  other  birds,  but  I  shall  not  tell  you  his 
name. 

So  all  of  the  birds  have  work  to  do  in  the 
forest. 


•H8  17  8«~ 

What  do  the  song  birds  do?  Ah!  they  have  their 
work,  too.  They  sing  cheerfully  while  the  other  birds 
work,  and  make  the  hours  short  and  the  day 
happy. 

They  sing  of  the  goodness  of  God,  and  of  the  beauty 
in  the  forest  and  sky. 

If  there  were  no  song  birds,  the  workers 
might  forget  all  of  these  lovely  things.  Then  their 
hearts  would  be  as  hard  as  the  tree  the  woodpecker 
is  chopping. 

One  spring  morning  the  song  birds  were  singing  so 
beautifully  that  every  one  listened. 

The  woodpeckers  cried,  "  Plitt !  plitt !  "  The 
crows  screamed,  "  Rah!  rah!  '  and  the  blackbirds 
laughed  with  glee.  This  meant  that  they  liked  the 
songs. 

In  the  nests  were  many  baby  birds.  They  liked  to 
hear  the  songs,  too,  so  they  stretched  up  their  little 
heads. 

But  they  could  not  understand  the  songs  about  the 
sky  and  the  forest.  You  see,  they  had  not  seen  these 


-*  18  &- 

things  yet,  and  they  did  not  know  what  the  songs 
meant. 

The  poor  babies  drooped  their  heads  and  were 
very  sad. 

There  was  one  bird  who  thought  of    the   babies 


in  the  nests,  for  he  had  a  kind  heart,  and  loved  little 
things. 

"  I  will  fly  down  and  sing  for  them,"  he  thought; 
"  perhaps  it  will  make  them  happy." 


-«  19  &- 

So  he  flew  into  a  little  bush,  quite  near  the  ground, 
and  sang  the  sweetest  song  he  knew.  Over  and  over 
again  he  sang  it,  and  the  babies  in  the  nests  listened 
all  the  time. 

"  He  is  singing  about  the  warm  sunshine/'  said 
the  baby  robins. 

"  He  is  singing  about  rocking  in  this  beautiful 
cradle/7  said  the  baby  orioles. 

Then,  as  the  song  grew  sweeter  and  sweeter,  "  Lis- 
ten, listen!"  they  cried.  " Now  he  is  singing  about  our 
mother.  That  is  the  best  song  of  all." 

So  the  song  sparrow  sang  in  the  little  bush,  telling 
the  babies  about  the  sun  and  the  breezes  and  their 
mothers'  love. 

He  waked  them  in  the  morning;  he  sang  them  to 
sleep  at  night. 

Have  you  never  heard  him  singing,  "  Sweet,  sweet, 
sweet,  loving  little  mother,  sweet  "? 

—  Etta  Austin  BlaisdelL 


20 


DUTCH  CHILDREN 

How  would  you  like  to  go  to  Holland  with  me  to 
visit  the  little  Dutch  children? 

First  we  must  go  to  New  York  City  in  a  railroad 
train  and  then  get  on  board  of  one  of  the  big  ships 
that  cross  the  ocean. 

We  shall  have  to  travel  over  the  water  five  or 
six  days  and  nights  in  this  big  ship,  and  then  ride  a 
long  way,  after  we  come  to  land. 

When  the  Pilgrims  came  to  this  country,  nearly 
three  hundred  years  ago,  they  crossed  the  same  ocean, 
but  it  took  them  many  weeks.  They  were  in  a  small 
sailing  vessel,  and  had  to  come  very  slowly. 

On  board  of  this  big  ship  you  will  find  a  great  many 
things  to  do  and  see.  There  are  several  hundred 
people  on  the  vessel,  and  it  is  interesting  to  watch 
them.  There  are  books  to  read,  and  games  to  play, 
and  the  days  will  go  very  swiftly. 

Most  of  the  time  you  will  not  be  able  to  see  land 
in  any  direction.  All  you  can  see  is  the  sun  and 


-4  21  &- 

the    sky  and   the  ocean  with  big  waves  rolling  and 
tossing  about. 

I  wonder  what  you  will  notice  the  very  first  thing 
when  you  reach  Holland. 


Perhaps  you  will  see  a  group  of  children  running 
down  the  street  with  their  wooden  shoes  clacking  on 
the  stone  walks. 

Or  perhaps  you  will  see  some  girls  standing  at  a 


-»S  22  8<~ 

corner  knitting  stockings,  or  a  boy  driving  a  dog 
harnessed  to  a  little  cart. 

If  you  take  a  train  and  ride  through  the  country 
you  will  see  many  strange  things. 

There  are  big  windmills  everywhere,  with  long 
arms,  and  sails  to  catch  the  wind.  These  mills  turn 
wheels  to  pump  water  and  grind  corn  and  saw  wood. 
In  Holland  there  are  no  rivers  with  falls  and  swift 
currents  to  turn  the  mill  wheels. 

In  some  towns  there  are  canals  instead  of  streets, 
with  bridges  for  the  people  to  cross  from  one  side  to 
the  other. 

In  summer  there  are  many  boats  going  up  and 
down  the  canals,  but  in  winter  the  water  in  the 
canals  freezes,  and  then  everybody  skates.  Think 
what  fun  it  must  be  to  skate  to  church,  to  skate  to 
market,  to  skate  to  school,  and  then  skate  home 
again! 

A  great  many  of  the  poor  children  in  Holland  wear 
wooden  shoes  when  they  are  out  of  doors.  When 
they  go  into  the  house  they  take  off  their  shoes  and 


-»8  23  8«- 

leave  them  at  the  door.  You  can  tell,  by  counting 
the  pairs  of  shoes  at  the  door,  how  many  children 
there  are  in  the  house. 

Every  week  the  children  scrub  their  wooden  shoes 
with  soap  and  water  until  they  are  almost  as  white 
as  snow;  then  they  dry  them  in  the  sun,  or  before  the 
fire  in  the  big  open  fireplace. 

These  wooden  shoes  make  fine  boats,  and  some- 
times the  boys  take  them  off  and  sail  them  in  the 
canals.  The  little  girls  use  them  for  doll  carriages, 
or  play  they  are  beds,  and  tuck  their  dolls  into  them 
for  a  nap. 

If  you  were  walking  down  a  village  street  in  Hol- 
land you  might  see  a  red  silk  ball,  or  a  pink  silk  one, 
hanging  at  the  front  door  of  one  of  the  houses.  This 
is  to  show  that  there  is  a  little  new  baby  in  the  house. 
If  the  ball  is  red,  the  baby  is  a  boy;  if  it  is  pink,  the 
baby  is  a  girl. 

There  are  very  good  schools  in  Holland,  and  all 
the  children  go  to  school  and  learn  to  read  and  write 
and  sing,  just  as  you  do.  But  their  reading  and  singing 


-»8  24  8<- 

would  sound  very  strange  to  you,  and  you  could  not 
read  one  word  of  their  writing. 

The  Dutch  children  have  vacations  and  holidays, 
of  course.  The  holiday  they  like  best  of  all  is  Santa 
Glaus  Day.  It  comes  on  the  sixth  day  of  December, 
and  is  very  much  like  our  Christmas  Day. 

The  boys  and  girls  put  their  wooden  shoes  in  front 
of  the  fireplace,  on  the  hearth,  just  as  you  hang  your 
stocking  near  the  chimney,  and  Santa  Glaus  rides 
over  the  roofs  of  the  houses  on  a  big  horse  and 
drops  presents  down  the  chimney  into  the  little 
shoes. 

How  would  you  go  from  your  home  to  New  York 
City?  How  long  would  it  take? 

What  would  you  like  to  see  in  Holland? 

What  would  you  see  that  you  never  saw  before? 

Why  do  the  people  in  Holland  build  windmills? 

What  kind  of  shoes  do  many  of  the  children  wear? 

What  season  would  you  like  best  if  you  were  in 
Holland?  Why? 


-iB  25  S<- 

A  LITTLE  DUTCH   GIRL 

Were  you  a  little  Dutch  girl 
You'd  be,  perhaps,  as  sweet 
As  now  you  are,  my  darling, 
And  very  much  more  neat! 

You'd  be  a  little  housewife, 
And  even  at  your  play 
You'd  take  your  knitting  needles? 
And  knit  and  knit  away! 

You'd  never  be  forgetting 
To  feed  your  pussy-cat, 
And  she,  like  Holland  pussies, 
Would  grow  so  sleek  and  fat. 

But  were  you,  dear,  a  Gretchen, 
You'd  live  across  the  sea, 
And  so  would  be,  my  dearie, 
No  kind  of  use  to  me. 

-  Edith  Colby  Banfield. 


26 


THE  GREAT  FEAST 

Once  the  Play  Angel  came  into  a  nursery  where 
four  little  children  sat  on  the  floor  with  sad  and  troubled 
faces. 

"  What  is  the  matter,  children?  "  asked  the  Play 
Angel. 

"  We  wanted  to  have  a  great  feast,"  said  the  child 
whose  nursery  it  was. 

"  Yes,  that  would  be  delightful,"  said  the  Play 
Angel. 

"But  there  is  only  one  cooky!"  said  the  child 
whose  nursery  it  was. 

"And  it  is  a  very  small  cooky!"  said  his  little 
cousin. 

"Not  big  enough  for  me!"  said  the  child  whose 
nursery  it  was. 

The  other  two  children  said  nothing,  but  they 
looked  at  the  cooky  with  big  round  eyes,  and  their 
mouths  went  up  in  the  middle  and  down  at  the 
sides. 


-«  27  8<~ 

"Well,"  said  the  Play  Angel,  "  let  us  have  the 
feast  just  the  same.  I  think  we  can  manage  it." 

She  broke  the  cooky  into  four  pieces,  and  gave  one 
piece  to  the  littlest  child. 

"  See,"  she  said.     "  This  is  a  roast  chicken.     It  is 


just  as  brown  and  crisp  as  it  can  be.  There  is  cran- 
berry sauce  on  one  side,  and  on  the  other  a  little 
mountain  of  mashed  potato.  It  must  be  a  volcano, 
it  smokes  so.  Do  you  see?  " 


-»8  28  3<~ 

"Yes,"  said  the  littlest  child,  and  his  mouth  went 
down  in  the  middle  and  up  at  the  corners. 

The  Play  Angel  gave  a  piece  to  the  next 
child. 

"  Here,"  she  said,  "  is  a  little  pie.  Outside,  as  you 
see,  it  is  brown  and  crusty,  and  inside  it  is  all  chicken, 
and  ham,  and  jelly,  and  hard-boiled  eggs.  Did  you 
ever  see  such  a  pie?  " 

"  No,  I  never  did,"  said  the  child. 

"  Now  here,"  said  the  Angel  to  the  third  child, 
"  is  a  round  cake.  The  frosting  is  half  an  inch  thick, 
and  inside  there  are  chopped  nuts  and  raisins.  It  is 
the  prettiest  cake  I  ever  saw,  and  the  best." 

"  So  it  is,"  said  the  third  child. 

Then  the  Angel  gave  the  last  piece  to  the  child 
whose  nursery  it  was. 

"  My  dear,"  she  said,  "  just  look!  Here  is  an  ice- 
cream rabbit.  He  is  snowy  white  outside,  with  eyes 
of  red  sugar;  see  his  long  ears,  and  his  little  tail. 
Inside,  I  think  you  will  find  he  is  pink. 

"  Now,  when  I  clap  my  hands  and  count  one,  two, 


-»8  29  &- 

three,  you  must  eat  the  feast  all  up.     One  —  two,  — 
three!" 

So  the  children  ate  the  feast  all  up. 

"  There,"  said  the  Angel,  "  did  you  ever  see  such 
a  grand  feast?  " 

"No,  we  never  did!"  said  all  the  four  children 
together. 

"  And  there  are  some  crumbs  left  over,"  said  the 
Angel.  "  Come,  and  we  will  give  them  to  the  brother 
birds." 

"  But  you  didn't  have  any,"  said  the  child  whose 
nursery  it  was. 

"  Oh,  yes!  "  said  the  Angel,  "  I  had  it  all." 

—  Laura  E.  Richards. 

Small  service  is  true  service  while  it  lasts. 
Of  humblest  friends,  bright  creature,  scorn  not  one. 
The  daisy,  by  the  shadow  that  it  casts, 
Protects  the  lingering  dewdrop  from  the  sun. 

—  William  Wordsworth. 


-»8  30  8«- 


LITTLE  GRANDMOTHER'S  SHOES 

"  But,  Grandmother,"  said  little  May,  holding  up 
the  tiny  pair  of  calf -skin  shoes,  "  were  these  your 
very  best  shoes?  Didn't  you  have  any  shiny  black  ones, 
with  a  tassel  on,  like  mine? 


"  And  where  did  you  buy  them,  Grandmother? 
Did  Columbus  bring  them  with  him  in  his  ship?  " 

"  No,  dear;  Columbus  didn't  bring  Grandma's 
shoes  in  his  ship.  He  sailed  back  to  Spain  again  three 
hundred  years  before  these  shoes  were  made. 

"  Bring  your  chair  and  sit  down  by  me.  I  will  tell 
you  all  about  these  little  worn-out  shoes  of  mine. 


•«e  31  B* 

"  When  I  was  a  little  girl/'  began  Grandmother, 
"  children  did  not  wear  shoes  all  the  time.  They 
went  barefoot  in  the  summer,  except  when  they  were 
dressed  up.  One  pair  of  shoes  had  to  last  a  whole 
year. 

"  When  we  went  to  church  we  used  to  go  barefoot, 
carrying  our  shoes  in  our  hands.  At  the  foot  of  the 
hill  we  washed  our  feet  in  the  brook  and  put  on  our 
shoes  and  stockings. 

"  Our  shoes  did  not  wear  out  very  fast;  and  if  we 
lost  a  shoe,  we  had  to  go  barefoot  till  the  shoemaker 
came  again." 

"Oh,  dear!"  sighed  May,  "how  dreadful!  Who 
was  the  shoemaker,  Grandmother,  and  when  did  he 
come?  " 

"  The  shoemaker,"  Grandmother  replied,  "  was  a 
very  important  man  when  I  was  a  little  girl.  '  Shoe 
week  '  was  a  busy  week  in  the  family. 

"I  can  remember  how  glad  we  all  were  when  father 
said,  '  The  shoemaker  will  be  here  to-morrow/ 

"  That  night  the  shoe  bench  was  brought  down  from 


-«  32  &- 

the  attic  and  placed  in  a  warm  corner  of  the 
kitchen. 

"  Father  and  mother  made  a  list  of  the  shoes  that 
were  needed.  We  children  talked  about  our  new 
shoes  and  the  shoemaker  until  we  fell  asleep. 

"  Early  in  the  morning  the  shoemaker  appeared. 
He  carried  his  bag  of  tools  and  a  roll  of  leather  on 
his  back.  By  seven  o'clock  he  was  seated  at  his  bench, 
hard  at  work. 

"  We  children  used  to  sit  on  the  floor  beside  him  and 
watch  him  work.  First  he  measured  our  feet  and  drew 
some  paper  patterns.  Then  he  cut  out  the  leather. 

"  He  punched  holes  along  the  edges  of  the  leather 
with  a  sharp  awl;  then  the  shoe  was  ready  to  sew. 

"  For  his  sewing  he   used   a  long  waxed   thread, 

with  a  stiff  bristle  at  each  end  for  a  needle.    All  day 

,     long  he  would  sit  at  his  bench,  putting  the  needles 

into  the  holes  and  pulling  the  thread  through,  till  the 

shoe  was  sewed  firmly. 

"  When  all  our  shoes  were  made,  he  packed  his 
bag  and  said  good-by  for  another  year." 


-*  33 


LITTLE -FOLK  LAND 

The  children  all  go  looking 
In  vain  for  Fairyland, 
Where  little  folk  have  dwelling, 
And  wander  hand  in  hand; 
Where  silvery  small  voices 
Ring  clear  upon  the  air, 
Where  magic  little  whispers 
Work  wonders  everywhere; 

Where  flower  fields  are  forests, 
For  tiny  feet  to  tread ; 
Where  one  has  lived  a  life-time 
Before  the  day  is  fled. 
For  this  dear  wondrous  country 
The  children  look  in  vain  ; 
They  find  but  empty  flowers, 
Through  sun  and  summer  rain. 


H8  34  8f 

It  is  the  grown  folks  only 
Have  eyes  for  Fairyland, 
Where  little  people  wander, 
And  toddle  hand  in  hand; 
Where  happy  voices  prattle, 
And  whisper  secrets  strange; 
Where  tiny  sprites  by  magic 
To  bigger  fairies  change; 

Where  dancing  little  figures 
Get  lost  amid  the  flowers; 
Where  days  as  years  are  measured, 
And  minutes  count  for  hours. 
It  is  the  grown  folk  only 
Can  find  the  land  of  elves; 
How  could  the  children  guess  it? 
The  fairies  are  themselves. 

—  Edith  Colby  Banfield. 


-€  35  9«- 

CHILDREN  OF  A  SUNNY  LAND 

I  —  A   STRANGE   MILK    WAGON 

Domingo  and  his  sister  Marikena  live  in  a  warm, 
sunny  land.  It  is  the  land  of  Brazil,  where  there  are 
fruits  and  flowers  all  the  year,  and  it  is  always  summer. 

Domingo  and  Marikena  love  the  sunshine,  and  the 
birds  and  flowers. 

They  like  to  play  out  of  doors  in  the  early  morning 
and  at  night,  but  at  noon  it  is  too  hot,  and  every  one 
takes  a  nap. 

When  they  go  to  the  woods  they  do  not  see  crows 
and  blue  jays  and  woodpeckers.  Instead,  there  are 
gorgeous  parrots  and  beautiful  humming-birds  that 
are  almost  as  large  as  robins. 

Perhaps  they  see  monkeys  in  the  palm  trees;  and, 
instead  of  acorns,  they  find  cocoanuts. 

In  their  schoolroom  they  sing  all  their  lessons.  Is 
not  that  a  merry  way?  But  it  would  seem  strange  to 
you  because  you  could  not  understand  one  word 


-»8  36  &- 

they  say.  You  see,  they  do  not  speak  English,  and 
they  could  not  talk  with  you. 

Every  morning  the  two  children  are  up  very  early 
and  out  on  the  balcony  watching  for  something.  Soon 
they  call  out,  "  leitej  leite"  which  means,  "  milk, 
milk." 

And  what  do  you  suppose  they  see?  Not  a  wagon 
filled  with  glass  jars  or  tin  cans.  Oh,  no!  It  is  only 
two  or  three  cows  being  driven  down  the  street  by  a 
woman. 

The  woman  stops  the  cows  in  front  of  Domingo's 
house,  and  milks  one  of  them  while  the  children  watch 
her.  How  sweet  and  fresh  this  milk  is!  I  wish  you 
could  have  some  every  morning,  too ! 

II  —  A   RIDE   IN   A   CHAIR 

Domingo  and  Marikena  are  going  with  their  mother 
to  visit  their  cousin. 

They  have  had  their  afternoon  nap  and  it  is  not 
too  hot  out  of  doors  now,  as  it  is  nearly  four  o'clock. 


-*B  37  &~ 

If  you  were  going  to  pay  a  visit  you  would  walk 
or  ride  in  a  car  or  carriage,  would  you  not? 

But  Domingo  and  Marikena  are  not  going  in  either 
of  those  ways.  It  is  too  hot  to  walk,  and  the  street- 


cars do  not  go  up  the  hill  where  their  aunt  lives,  so 
they  will  ride  in  a  .chair. 

The  chairs  are  large  and  have  big,  soft  cushions. 
They  have  a  cover  overhead  and  curtains  on  all  sides, 
and  are  carried  by  four  men. 


-IB  38  &- 

The  two  children  ride  in  one  chair;  their  mother  in 
another.  The  curtains  are  drawn  down,  but  Domingo 
peeps  out  as  they  ride  through  the  city  streets. 

When  they  reach  the  cousin's  house  they  do  not 
rap  on  the  door  or  ring  a  bell.  The  mother  claps  her 
hands,  and  when  the  aunt  sees  them  she  says,  "  Enter 
and  welcome.  The  house  and  all  it  contains  is  yours.7' 

Is  not  that  a  strange  way  of  saying,  "  I  am  glad  to 
see  you.  Will  you  come  in?  " 

They  sit  in  the  parlor  and  while  they  talk  they  sip 
coffee  from  tiny  cups.  Before  they  come  away  they 
walk  in  the  garden,  where  there  are  beautiful  flowers 
and  fountains,  tall  palm  trees,  and  rubber  trees  with 
blossoms  like  yellow  lilies. 

The  chair-men  wait  and  the  children  ride  home  again, 
but  it  is  dark,  and  they  can  see  only  the  lights  in 
the  houses.  The  chair  swings  back  and  forth  like  a 
cradle  as  the  men  trot  down  the  hill  into  the  city. 

They  sing  as  they  go,  and  the  song  is  a  low7,  sweet 
tune  like  a  lullaby.  Marikena  puts  her  head  on  the 
cushions  and  almost  falls  asleep. 


H9  39  8<- 

Domingo  nods  and  dreams  of  the  fruit  and  the 
flowers  and  the  funny  pet  monkey  his  cousin  had  in 
the  garden.  Oh!  the  days  are  long  and  happy  in 
Brazil,  and  the  children  have  merry  times. 

Ill  —  THE   CARNIVAL 

"  The  Carnival,  the  Carnival/'  shouted  Domingo 
one  morning.  "  This  is  the  first  day  of  the  Carnival." 

Then  he  ran  to  find  Marikena.  "  Look,  Sister/' 
he  cried,  "  I  am  a  clown  this  year.  What  are  you?  " 

"  I  am  a  fairy/'  she  replied.  "  See  my  cap  and 
wand.  And  here  is  a  bag  full  of  sugarplums  and 
sweetmeats.  I  can  hang  the  bag  over  my  shoulder." 

"  See  these  big  pockets/'  said  her  brother.  "  They 
are  bigger  than  a  bag  and  they  are  just  full  of  goodies. 
I  like  to  be  a  clown,  because  I  can  have  such  big 
pockets.  Take  that!"  and  he  threw  a  handful  of 
sugarplums  into  her  lap. 

Just  then  there  was  a  clapping  of  hands  at  the 
door  and  the  children  ran  to  the  balcony. 

In  Brazil  the  Carnival  is  held  on  the  three  days 


-»8  4O  B«- 

before  Lent,  and  every  one  has  a  holiday.  The  cities 
are  beautifully  decorated,  and  men,  women  and 
children  wear  odd  costumes  and  masks. 

Some  of  them  are  dressed  to  look  like  monkeys, 


some  like  parrots,  and  some  like  clowns.  Some  wear 
gay  dresses  and  funny  masks,  and  others  wear  ugly 
skins  of  animals  and  hideous  masks. 

The  children  often  carry  wreaths  and  garlands  of 
flowers;  and  there  is  always  music  and  feasting  and 
dancing  in  the  streets. 


-i8  41  &- 

Every  one  has  pockets,  bags,  or  baskets  full  of 
sugarplums,  sweetmeats,  bonbons  and  flowers. 

These  they  throw  at  every  one  they  meet,  laughing 
merrily  if  they  make  a  good  hit. 

The  children  think  it  is  great  fun  to  pelt  each  other 
with  sugarplums  and  flowers.  It  is  as  good  as  snow- 
balling, only  they  can  never  have  snow  battles  because 
they  never  have  any  snow. 

The  Carnival  is  the  best  time  of  all  the  year  in  Brazil, 
or  at  least  Domingo  and  Marikena  think  so. 

Where  do  Domingo  and  Marikena  live? 

When  do  they  play  out  of  doors? 

What  do  they  see  in  the  woods? 

How  is  the  milk  brought  to  their  house? 

When  they  go  visiting,  what  do  they  ride  in? 

What  did  their  aunt  say  when  they  went  to  call  on 
her?  What  did  they  do  at  their  aunt's  house? 

What  do  some  of  the  people  wear  on  Carnival  days? 

What  do  they  carry  in  their  pockets?  What  do  they 
throw  at  each  other? 


«8  42  &- 

THE  LITTLE  PLANT 

On  the  edge  of  the  forest  stood  a  tiny  plant.  It  was 
only  six  inches  tall. 

The  ground  around  it  was  so  cold  and  hard  that  it 
could  not  grow  taller.  It  had  stood  there  many 
years,  sad  and  sorrowful. 

"  Grow  and  be  beautiful/7  said  the  forest  sternly, 
but  the  plant  did  not  grow. 

"  Do  you  not  wish  to  grow?  "  said  the  blue  jay. 
Then  he  began  to  tell  the  little  plant  how  lazy  and 
useless  it  was.  But  his  words  went  into  one  ear  and 
out  of  the  other. 

Still  the  plant  did  not  grow. 

"  Grow!  grow!"  roared  the  wind.  "Grow  tall 
and  straight.  I  will  teach  you  to  obey.  Grow! 
grow! ;; 

Then  the  wind  lashed  the  tiny  plant  with  its  cold 
wings,  and  beat  its  branches  to  the  ground.  But  the 
poor  thing  came  near  dying  and  did  not  grow  at 
all 


-•8  43  8<- 

"  Do  grow,"  said  the  sun.  "  Grow  and  be  beautiful. 
I  will  help  you." 

Then  the  sun  warmed  the  earth  around  the  plant, 
and  gentle  showers  fell  on  it  from  the  clouds. 


Now  the  little  twigs  began  to  grow,  and  the  tiny 
plant  became  a  beautiful  birch  tree,  with  green  leaves 
and  snow-white  bark. 

—  Anna  von  Rydingsvard. 


-»8   44   9«- 

TWO  WAYS 

Two  little  weeds  grew  on  a  bank  by  the  roadside. 

All  summer  they  had  been  drinking  the  dew  and 
sunshine,  and  had  been  very  happy. 

But  now  autumn  had  come,  with  gray  skies  and 
winds  that  nipped  and  pinched  them. 


"  We  shall  die  soon,"  said  one  little  weed. 

"  I  should  like  to  do  something  pleasant  before  I 
die,  just  to  show  what  a  happy  time  I  have  had.  I 
think  I  will  turn  red,  and  then  people  will  see  how  I 
feel." 

"  You  will  be  very  foolish  to  waste  your  strength 
in  any  such  nonsense!"  said  the  other  little  weed. 


-»8  45  9^ 

"  I  shall  live  as  long  as  I  can,  and  hug  the  brown 
bank  here." 

So  the  first  little  weed  turned  bright  scarlet,  and 
was  so  pretty  that  every  one  looked  at  it. 

By  and  by  there  came  down  the  road  a  most  beautiful 
maiden. 

When  she  saw  the  scarlet  leaves  she  picked  them 
and  put  them  in  her  hair. 

This  made  the  little  weed  so  happy  that  he  died 
for  pure  joy. 

The  second  little  weed  lived  on,  and  turned  slowly 
brown,  like  the  bank. 

"He  was  so  foolish !"  he  said,  speaking  of  the 
weed  that  turned  scarlet.  "  He  put  all  his  strength 
into  turning  red,  and  so  he  died." 

"  I  was  proud  of  him,"  said  the  brown  bank.  "  He 
did  what  he  could,  and  people  loved  him." 

"  Yes,  but  I  am  alive,  and  stay  with  you!  "  said  the 
weed. 

"  Much  I  care!  "  said  the  bank. 

—  Laura  E.  Richards. 


-*  46  8<- 

A   SONG   IN    THE   WOOD 

I  found  a  shy  little  violet  root 

Half  hid  in  the  woods,  on  a  day  of  spring, 
And  a  bird  flew  over,  and  looked  at  it,  too, 

And  for  joy,  as  he  looked,  he  began  to  sing. 

The  sky  was  the  tenderest  blue  above,  — 
And  the  flower  like  a  bit  of  the  sky  below ; 

And  between  them  the  wonderful  winds  of  God 
On  heavenly  errands  went  to  and  fro. 

Away  from  the  summer,  and  out  of  the  South 
The  bird  had  followed  a  whisper  true, 

As  out  from  the  brown  and  desolate  sod 

Stepped  the  shy  little  blossom,  with  eyes  of  blue. 

And  he  sang  to  her,  in  the  young  spring  day, 

Of  all  the  joy  in  the  world  astir; 
And  her  beauty  and  fragrance  answered  him, 

While  the  spring  and  he  bent  over  her. 

—  Louise  Chandler  Moulton. 


-»S   47  9«- 

HOW  THE  CORN  GREW 

Little  Me  Too  walked  to  the  right,  then  to  the 
left,  along  the  sidewalk  in  front  of  the  house. 

As  he  walked  he  sang  with  all  his  might  about  the 
ocean,  and  the  summer  time,  and  any  other  pleasant 
thing  that  came  into  his  head. 

He  made  it  up  as  he  went  along,  and  grew  quite 
out  of  breath  at  last,  and  had  to  stop. 

Just  as  he  had  got  his  breath  and  was  meaning  to 
begin  all  over  again,  he  saw  something  very  small 
and  yellow  on  the  edge  of  the  walk. 

Then  he  began  to  sing  the  song  of  whatever  it  might 
be  that  was  so  small  and  yellow. 

This  is  what  he  sang :  — 

"  I  wonder  what  this  is. 
I  guess  it  is  a  kernel  of  corn. 
I  wonder  how  it  came  here 
All  alone  by  itself. 
I  guess  I  don't  know. 


-»6  48  3«- 

I  wonder  if  it  can  be  planted 
In  the  grass  in  our  yard. 
Yes!  " 

When  he  said  "  Yes! "  he  stooped  down  and  dug  a 
hole  in  the  ground  in  the  dooryard  with  his 
fingers. 

Then  he  put  the  kernel  of  corn  in  the  hole  and 
covered  it  over  with  dirt. 

Afterwards  he  stood  up  and  sang  at  the  top  of 
his  voice,  "  Now  I  guess  it  will  grow!  " 

Of  course  it  grew ! 

After  a  few  days  it  poked  itself  up  through  the  earth 
to  make  Little  Me  Too  remember.  For  Little  Me  Too 
had  forgotten  all  about  it. 

When  he  saw  it  poking  its  head  up  through  the 
grass,  he  didn't  remember  even  then  that  it  was  the 
kernel  of  corn. 

It  had  changed. 

When  he  put  it  into  the  ground  and  covered  it  with 
dirt,  it  was  yellow  and  hard. 


-»e  49  &- 

Now  it  was  green  and  soft.  It  looked  somewhat 
like  the  rest  of  the  grass,  —  but  not  just  like  it,  or 
Little  Me  Too  wouldn't  have  noticed  it. 

When  he  saw  it  he  said,  "  There's  a  grass  that  wants 


to  be  different.     Perhaps  it's  the  grandfather  grass." 
He  let  it  alone,  and  he  got  the  man  with  the  lawn 

mower  to  let  it  alone.    That  gave  it  a  good  chance 

to  grow. 

It  grew  just  as  fast  as  it  could,  and  as  soon  as  it 


-«  so  &- 

was  big  enough  it  showed  Little  Me  Too  that  it  was  no 
grandfather  grass,  but  a  cornstalk. 

The  man  with  the  lawn  mower  said  so. 

Then  it  was  that  Little  Me  Too  remembered.  When 
he  remembered,  he  said,  "  Yes,  it  grew." 

When  it  had  grown  to  be  taller  than  Little  Me  Too, 
people  walking  along  the  sidewalk  would  look  at  it, 
and  say,  "  What  a  fine  garden!  " 

The  mother  said,  "  I  am  glad  it  is  something  that 
can't  find  its  way  into  the  nursery." 

Little  Me  Too  it  was  who  first  saw  the  ear  of  corn 
growing  on  the  stalk. 

He  showed  it  to  some  people,  and  there  were  others 
who  saw  it  without  having  it  shown  to  them. 

Each  of  them  asked  for  a  bite  from  it  when  it  should 
be  ripe. 

Little  Me  Too  said  •"  yes,"  to  them  all. 

When  he  had  said  "  yes  "  to  thirty-one  people,  his 
mother  said,  "Don't  say  '  yes '  to  any  more  people; 
you  won't  have  corn  enough  for  them  all." 

Little  Me  Too  promised  not  to  say  "yes"  again, 


-«   51  fr- 

but  sometimes  he  forgot,  and  by  the  time  the   corn 
was  ripe  he  had  said  "yes"  to  fifty  people. 

But  he  had  plenty  of  corn,  for  it  was  an  ear  of  pop 
corn. 

After  it  was  popped  over  the  nursery  fire  it  filled 
a  big,  big  bowl. 

—  Julia  Dalrymple. 

"DO  YOU  KNOW?" 

Do  you  know 

That  you  can  go 
In  the  early  morning  light 

When  the  dew  is  on  the  grass 

And  find  the  little  cobweb  tents 
The  fairies  sleep  in  all  the  night? 

But,  alas,  you'll  find  no  traces 
Of  their  little  fairy  faces ! 

—  Edith  Colby  Banfield. 


-»B  52  9»- 

THE  LITTLE   GOATHERDS 

Louis  and  Marie  live  among  the  mountains  in 
Switzerland.  These  mountains  are  very  high  and  are 
called  the  Swiss  Alps. 

The  cold  winds  sweep  down  the  mountain-side  and 
rush  through  the  valleys.  Sometimes  it  blows  so 
hard  that  it  almost  blows  the  thatched  roofs  off  the 
houses. 

But  the  mountain  people  know  all  about  these 
strong  winds.  What  do  you  suppose  they  do  to  keep 
the  roof  from  blowing  away?  They  lay  heavy  stones 
on  the  roof  to  keep  it  in  place. 

The  winters  are  long  and  cold;  and  it  snows  and 
snows!  You  never  saw  such  deep  drifts  nor  such 
big  fields  of  ice. 

But  the  summer  is  beautiful,  -  -  the  sky  is  blue 
and  the  sun  is  bright;  and  far  away  the  mountain 
peaks  are  capped  with  glistening  snow. 

Then  the  grass  is  green  and  the  flowers  blossom 
everywhere.  These  are  happy  days  for  the  children. 


-»6   53  8«- 

In  summer  Louis  and  Marie  go  out  every  morning 
with  the  goats.  Marie  is  just  a  tiny  bit  of  a  girl  only 
four  years  old,  but  Louis  is  a  big  boy.  He  is 
almost  nine,  and  that  is  very  old  when  one  has  such 
a  little  sister. 

Louis  lets  the  goats  out  of  their  yard.  They  jump 
and  run  and  caper  about,  and  Marie  hides  behind  her 
mother's  dress.  She  is  afraid  of  the  goats  at  first. 

One  of  the  big  goats  always  runs  to  the  vineyard, 
he  is  so  fond  of  grapes.  Louis  drives  him  out  with 
a  long  stick. 

Then  the  whole  herd  runs  to  the  wheat  field, 
and  Louis  runs  after  them,  shouting  at  them  and 
driving  them  away  toward  the  mountain  pasture. 

Marie  runs  along  with  him  and  Patte  Blanche 
goes,  too.  Patte  Blanche  is  their  dog,  and  his  name 
means  White  Foot. 

When  the  goats  reach  the  pasture  land  they  clamber 
over  the  rocks  and  eat  the  moss  and  the  bushes  and 
the  sweet,  green  grass. 

Louis  and  Marie  pick  the  flowers  that  grow  on  the 


-»8  54  8«- 

mountain-side,  and  play  little  games  with  the  stones. 
They  watch  the  goats,  too,  and  talk  about  them. 
Sometimes  a  goat  wanders  too  far  away  and  then 
Louis  sends  White  Foot  to  drive  her  back  to  the  others. 


At  noon  the  children  eat  their  lunch  of  barley- 
bread  and  cheese,  and  White  Foot  sits  beside  them 
and  eats  the  bits  they  give  him. 

There  is  always  so  much  to  do  and  so  much  to  see 
that  the  days  seem  very  short.  Soon  it  is  time  for 


-•8   55  S<*- 

White  Foot  to  drive  the  goats  down  from  the  rocks 
and  the  little  company  starts  for  home. 

One  night  a  very  funny  thing  happened  when  they 
were  on  their  way  home. 

The  goats  were  wandering  along,  nibbling  at  the 
green  grass,  and  the  children  were  following  them 
down  the  path,  when  they  saw  a  strange  man  sitting 
on  a  log.  The  man  was  fast  asleep  and  his  head 
nodded  and  bobbed  up  and  down. 

Just  as  Louis  saw  him,  one  of  the  goats  spied  him, 
too,  and  what  do  you  think  she  did?  She  trotted 
along,  ran  up  behind  him  and  butted  him  right  off  the 
log.  Of  course  the  man  waked  up  and  I  think  he  was 
going  to  be  very  angry,  but  the  goat  put  her  fore  feet 
up  on  the  log  and  looked  as  if  she  wanted  to  laugh. 

The  children  laughed,  and  so  the  man  laughed,  too. 
Then  he  walked  home  with  them  and  helped  them 
drive  the  goats  into  their  yard. 

Louis  and  Marie  will  never  forget  how  funny  the  goat 
looked  trying  to  laugh  at  the  man,  and  they  like  to 
tell  the  story  over  and  over  again. 


-*  56  e**- 

SWISS  CHILDREN 

You  have  just  read  a  story  about  Louis  and  Marie, 
who  live  among  the  mountains  of  Switzerland. 

Switzerland  is  a  land  of  mountains  and  valleys 
and  many  beautiful  lakes  and  rivers. 

Most  of  the  people  live  in  the  valleys  and  keep 
cattle,  sheep,  and  goats. 

In  the  springtime  thousands  of  cattle  are  driven 
up  into  the  mountains  to  stay  all  summer. 

Many  of  the  people  go  up  into  the  mountains,  too, 
and  live  in  little  huts.  The  men  and  boys  take  care 
of  the  cattle,  and  the  women  make  butter  and  cheese. 

The  cows  wear  bells  which  tinkle  as  they  walk, 
and  the  music  of  all  the  bells,  in  the  stillness  of  the 
mountains,  is  very  beautiful. 

In  the  fall  the  men  drive  the  cattle  down  into  the 
valleys  again.  When  they  reach  the  villages  their 
friends  come  out  to  meet  them,  and  every  one  has  a 
holiday.  The  children  think  this  is  one  of  the  best 
days  in  all  the  year.  They  like  to  hear  the  bells  ring 


-i8  57  8«- 

out  their  welcome;  they  like  to  see  the  flags  and 
banners  waving  from  the  windows  and  the  house- 
tops. They  sing  and  dance  and  shout  and  are  very 

• 

merry. 


At  night  there  is  a  feast  in  the  village  square,  and 
perhaps  they  like  this  best  of  all. 

Many  of  the  houses  in  Switzerland  are  very  small 
and  are  made  of  wood.  These  little  houses  are  called 
chalets. 


-»8  58   &- 

Louis  and  Marie  live  in  a  tiny  chalet  on  the  side 
of  a  steep  mountain.  Their  father  owns  a  farm  and 
has  cows  and  sheep  and  goats,  and  ever  so  many 

• 

geese. 

You  never  saw  such  a  farm  in  all  your  life.  The 
mountain  is  so  steep  that  the  fields  and  pastures 
seem  to  be  tipped  up  on  edge,  and  it  looks  as  if 
the  horses  would  fall  off  when  the  farmer  is  plowing 
the  fields,  but  they  never  do. 

Louis  has  a  pet  dog.  He  harnesses  his  dog  to  a 
little  wagon  and  drives  him  up  and  down  the  road. 
Sometimes  he  gives  Marie  a  ride  in  the  wagon. 

Louis  goes  to  the  village  school,  and  Marie  will  have 
to  go  as  soon  as  she  is  six  years  old.  There  are  very 
good  schools  in  Switzerland,  and  the  children  learn 
the  same  things  that  you  learn  in  your  school. 

These  children  have  many  odd  playthings  and 
toys  carved  out  of  wood.  They  have  wooden  whistles 
and  horns,  and  little  wooden  goats  and  bears.  Marie 
has  a  tiny  chalet,  almost  like  the  one  she  lives  in,  which 
she  calls  her  "  playhouse." 


-**6   59    8<~ 

The  toys  the  children  like  best  are  the  ones  that  have 
a  music  box  in  them.  The  Swiss  people  make  all  kinds 
of  music  boxes  and  put  them  in  all  kinds  of  things, 
in  chairs  and  tables  and  clocks,  and  even  in  plates. 

While  the  boys  are  learning  to  carve,  the  girls 
learn  to  embroider  on  linen  and  to  make  lace. 

Very  often  the  Swiss  girls  sit  outside  the  door  of 
their  chalet  making  lace  which  they  sell  to  the  people 
who  are  travelling  through  the  mountains. 

Where  do  Louis  and  Marie  live? 

What  does  their  father  do? 

Where  do  the  cattle  live  in  the  summer? 

Who  takes  care  of  them? 

What  do  the  women  make,  up  in  the  mountains? 

Which  holiday  do  the  Swiss  children  like  best  ? 

What  do  they  do  on  this  day? 

What  is  a  Swiss  cottage  called? 

Why  do  people  like  to  travel  in  Switzerland? 

If  you  should  go  there,  what  would  you  like  to  see? 

What  would  you  like  to  buy? 


-»S  6O  S<*- 

LULLABY-LAND 
Where  is  the  road  to  Lullaby-land? 
Where  is  the  ferry  to  Dreamland-shore? 
Here,  little  wanderer,  take  my  hand, 
Mother  will  show  thee  to  Lullaby-land, 
Mother  will  ferry  her  darling  o'er 
The  sweet  rocking  waters  to  Dreamland-shore. 

Soft  lie  the  shadows  in  Lullaby-land, 
Soft  lap  the  waters  by  Dreamland-shore, 
Sweet  is  the  sound  on  that  far-away  strand 
Of  little  keels  grating  along  the  sand, 
And  tenderly  stealeth  the  moonlight  o'er 
The  dear  little  children  on  Dreamland-shore. 

Here,  little  weary  one,  take  my  hand, 
Soon  shall  my  dearie  be  far  afloat; 
Mother's  lap  is  Lullaby-land, 
Mother's  arms  are  the  empty  boat, 
Waiting  to  carry  her  darling  o'er 
The  sweet  rocking  waters  to  Dreamland-shore. 

—  Edith  Colby  Banfield. 


-»8  61  S«~ 


THE  STONE  BLOCKS 

"  Why  is  your  little  sister  crying,  dear?  "  asked 
the  Play  Angel.  "  I  thought  you  were  taking  care  of 
her." 

"  So  I  am,  taking  beautiful  care  of  her,"  said  the 


child.  "  But  the  more  beautiful  care  I  take,  the  more 
she  cries.  She  does  not  like  to  have  me  take  care  of 
her." 

"  Let  me  see,"  said  the  Play  Angel,  and  she  sat 
down  on  the  nursery  floor.  "  Now  show  me  what  you 
have  been  doing." 

"  Look,"  said  the  child.     "  First  I  showed  her  all 


-»B    62    9*- 

my  dolls,  and  then  all  my  dolls'  dresses.  Now  I  have 
given  her  my  new  stone  blocks  to  play  with,  but  she 
will  not  play  with  them.  She  puts  them  in  her  mouth 
and  cries." 

"  Perhaps  she  is  hungry!"  said  the  Play  Angel. 

So  she  took  a  piece  of  bread  and  gave  it  to  the 
baby.  The  baby  stopped  crying  and  ate  the  bread, 
and  laughed  and  crowed. 

"See!"  said  the  Angel.  "Now  she  is  happy. 
Remember,  dear,  that  when  babies  are  hungry,  stone 
blocks  do  them  no  good." 

"  You  are  a  very  clever  angel  to  know  that,"  said 
the  child. 

"  You  are  a  rather  foolish  child,"  said  the  Angel, 
"  or  you  would  have  found  it  out  for  yourself." 

—  Laura  E.  Richards. 


-»S  63  &- 

GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMA'S  CHRISTMAS  IN 

ENGLAND 

Betty  and  Percy  sat  up  until  eleven  o'clock   that 
Christmas  Eve.    It  was  such  a  merry  time! 
They  saw  the  men  bring  in  the  Yule  log.    It  was 


so  big  that  it  took  three  men  to  carry  it,  and  then  they 
had  to  bring  it  in  on  their  shoulders.  • 

At  one  end  of  the  hall  was  a  large  fireplace.    I  think 
you  never  saw  one  like  it.     Pots  and  kettles  hung 


•*S  64  S<~ 

over  the  fire,  and  on  each  side  were  seats  where  the 
children  could  sit  and  eat  apples  and  tell  stories.  You 
see,  it  was  a  very  big  fireplace. 

The  men  rolled  the  Yule  log  into  the  fireplace  and 
lighted  the  fire.  How  the  sparks  flew!  How  the 
fire  roared  up  the  chimney! 

It  lighted  the  great  hall.  It  shone  on  the  oak  table 
where  the  supper  was  laid. 

On  the  supper  table  were  two  wax  candles.  These 
candles  were  almost  as  tall  as  you  are.  They  were 
wreathed  with  holly. 

These  were  the  Christmas  candles  and  they  burned 
the  whole  evening.  The  hall  was  trimmed  with  holly 
and  mistletoe.  The  holly  had  bright  green  leaves  and 
red  berries,  and  the  mistletoe  had  white  berries. 

A  big  bunch  of  mistletoe  hung  down  from  the 
ceiling  before  the  fire.  If  anyone  happened  to  stand 
under  the  mistletoe,  she  was  kissed. 

How  many  times  Betty  was  kissed !  First  her  father 
caught  her  under  the  mistletoe,  then  Uncle  Edward, 
and  then  Grandpa. 


-»8  65   &- 

At  eleven  o'clock  Nurse  said  that  Betty  and  Percy 
must  go  to  bed.  They  did  not  like  to  go  one  bit. 

There  was  a  fire  in  the  fireplace  in  Betty's  bedroom, 
but  it  was  very  cold.  In  Great-Great-Grandma's 
time  there  were  no  such  things  as  stoves  and  furnaces. 

Nurse  undressed  Betty,  and  then  the  little  girl 
climbed  up  the  steps  into  her  bed.  It  was  so  big 
and  high  that  she  had  to  climb  up  five  steps  to  get 
into  it. 

Then  Nurse  drew  the  curtains  of  the  bed  to  keep 
out  the  cold. 

Betty  was  almost  asleep  when  she  heard  the  Waits 
singing.  The  Waits  always  sang  under  the  windows 
on  Christmas  Eve. 

"  Open  the  lattice,  please,  Nurse,"  she  said. 

So  Nurse  opened  one  of  the  windows.  It  opened 
like  a  door,  and  had  panes  of  glass  which  were  small 
and  diamond-shaped. 

The  house  Betty  lived  in  was  very,  very  large,  and 
was  called  a  castle. 

This  is  what  the  Waits  were  singing :  — 


-•8  66   8<- 

"  God  rest  ye,  merry  gentlemen, 
Let  nothing  you  dismay, 
For  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour 
Was  born  upon  this  day." 

Betty  did  not  hear  the  next  verse,  because  her  eyes 
were  shut  and  she  was  fast  asleep 

When  she  waked  up  in  the  morning,  the  first  thing 
she  heard  was  another  Christmas  carol. 

She  slid  down  the  side  of  the  bed  and  ran  to  the 
window. 

It  was  a  lovely  Christmas  morning.  The  trees  and 
ground  and  walks  were  covered  with  snow.  How  it 
glistened  in  the  sunshine ! 

The  singers  were  standing  in  a  row  under  the  win- 
dow. There  were  seven  of  them,  and  they  were  all 
children  from  the  village  whom  Betty  had  seen  when 
she  was  driving  with  her  mother. 

How  they  were  bundled  up,  and  their  cheeks  were 
as  red  as  roses! 

They  were  singing  this  Christmas  carol :  — 


PLEASE    DRESS    ME    AS    QUICKLY   AS   YOU   CAN. 


-•8  67  &- 
"  I  saw  three  ships  come  sailing  in, 

On  Christmas  Day,  on  Christmas  Day; 
I  saw  three  ships  come  sailing  in, 
On  Christmas  Day  in  the  morning.77 

"  Quick,  quick,  Nurse/7  said  Betty.  "  Please  dress 
me  as  quickly  as  you  can.  I  must  run  down  with  the 
Christmas  boxes." 

So  Nurse  hurried,  and  Betty  hurried,  and  in  a  little 
while  she  was  ready,  with  a  sprig  of  holly  in  her  dress, 
and  a  bit  of  mistletoe  in  her  hair. 

Percy  was  ready,  too,  and  they  ran  down  the  long 
staircase  into  the  wide  hall. 

The  Yule  log  was  still  burning, --it  had  burned 
all  night.  The  door  was  opened,  and  the  little  singers 
came  in  to  warm  themselves  by  the  fire. 

Betty  and  Percy  gave  each  of  them  a  "  Christmas 
box.77  It  wasn7t  a  box,  it  was  a  gift;  but  a  Christmas 
gift  was  called  a  Christmas  box  in  those  days. 

After  the  singers  had  looked  at  their  gifts  and  had 
eaten  a  slice  of  plum  cake,  they  went  home. 


-»8  68  8**- 

I  cannot  tell  you  everything  that  Betty  and  Percy  did 
that  day,  but  you  may  be  sure  they  had  a  good  time. 

I  must  tell  you  about  the  Christmas  dinner.  It 
was  served  in  the  hall,  on  the  big  oak  table  that  stood 
before  the  fire. 

When  dinner  was  ready  they  did  not  ring  a  bell, 
but  the  cook  knocked  three  times  with  his  rolling-pin 
on  the  door. 

Two  men  stood  in  the  hall,  and  when  they  heard 
the  three  knocks  they  sounded  their  trumpets,  the 
doors  were  opened,  and  all  the  family  marched  in  to 
dinner. 

I  do  not  know  just  what  they  had  to  eat,  but  I 
know  they  had  roast  goose,  and  a  plum  pudding  just 
as  you  do  at  Christmas  time. 

After  dinner  the  children  played  games.  And  what 
do  you  think  they  played?  First  they  played  "  Puss- 
puss-in-the-corner,"  and  then  "  Blind-man's-buff." 

Isn't  it  strange  that  Great-Great-Grandma  should 
have  played  the  very  games  you  play,  on  that  Christmas 
night  more  than  two  hundred  years  ago? 


-•8  69  9<- 


THE  WHIPPING  BOY 

Many  years  ago  there  was  a  little  boy  living  in 
England  whose  name  was  Edward.  Of  course  there 
have  been  many  boys  in  England  by  the  name  of 


Edward,  but  they  are  not  so  well  known  as  this  boy, 
for  he  was  the  son  of  a  king. 

Edward's  father  was  King  Henry  the  Eighth,  and 
Edward  was  called  Edward  the  Sixth  when  he  became 
King  of  England. 

King  Henry  was  very  fond  of  his  children  and  did 
not  like  to  have  them  punished,  so  he  had  a  little 
"  whipping  boy  "  for  each  one  of  them. 


-»e  TO  &- 

Whenever  one  of  the  Princes  or  Princesses  did 
anything  naughty,  the  whipping  boy  was  punished. 

Sometimes  he  had  to  stand  in  the  corner  for  a  whole 
hour.  Sometimes  he  was  sent  to  bed  without  any 
supper,  and  sometimes  he  had  to  have  a  whipping. 

Prince  Edward's  whipping  boy  was  Edward  Brown. 
He  lived  in  the  castle  and  played  with  the  Prince  every 
day.  The  two  boys  were  very  fond  of  each  other, 
and  the  Prince  did  not  like  to  have  his  friend  punished. 

So  he  tried  to  be  good,  but  there  are  so  many  things 
a  Prince  must  not  do ! 

A  Prince  must  not  throw  his  toys  out  of  the  castle 
window.  He  must  never  get  angry  at  his  brothers 
and  sisters  and  quarrel  with  them.  He  must  learn 
his  lessons  every  day. 

He  must  be  polite  and  obedient  to  the  King  and 
Queen,  to  all  the  Gentlemen  in  Waiting  and  Ladies 
in  Waiting,  to  the  Head  Nurse  and  all  the  Under 
Nurses,  and  to  his  Tutor  and  all  his  teachers. 

Oh!  it  is  very  hard  to  be  a  good  Prince! 

Sometimes    Edward    Brown   had    to    be   punished 


-»8  71  &- 

more  than  once  while  the  boys  were  at  play,  and 
sometimes  Prince  Edward  was  quite  good  all  day 
long. 

One  day  the  Prince  did  something  that  was  very 
wrong;  and  when  his  Tutor  would  have  punished  the 
whipping  boy,  Edward  took  the  cane  from  his  hand 
and  said,  "  Sir,  you  shall  whip  me  for  this.  It  is  my 
command.  I  did  wrong.  I  should  be  punished.7' 

When  Prince  Edward  was  nine  years  old,  his  father 
died,  and  the  Prince  was  made  King  of  England. 

Perhaps  you  would  like  to  know  how  he  was  dressed 
when  he  went  to  be  crowned.  He  wore  a  suit  of  white 
velvet,  embroidered  with  diamonds,  pearls,  and  rubies. 
His  cap  was  white  velvet,  and  his  coat  was  cloth  of 
silver. 

He  rode  on  a  white  horse  through  the  city  and  the 
people  shouted,  "  Long  live  King  Edward." 


-*  72  8**- 

THE  CHRISTMAS  SPRUCE  TREE 

Among  the  tall  trees  in  the  forest  grew  a  little 
spruce  tree.  It  was  no  taller  than  a  man,  and  that 
is  very  short  for  a  tree. 

The  other  trees  near  it  grew  so  tall  and  had  such 
large  branches  that  the  poor  little  tree  could  not 
grow  at  all. 

She  liked  to  listen  when  the  other  trees  were  talking, 
but  it  often  made  her  sad. 

"  I  am  king  of  the  forest,"  said  the  oak.  "  Look 
at  my  huge  trunk  and  my  branches.  How  they  reach 
up  toward  heaven!  I  furnish  planks  for  men  from 
which  they  build  their  ships.  Then  I  defy  the  storm 
on  the  ocean  as  I  did  the  thunder  in  the  forest." 

"  And  I  go  with  you  over  the  foaming  waves," 
said  the  tall  straight  pine.  "  I  hold  up  the  flapping 
sails  when  the  ships  fly  over  the  ocean." 

"  And  we  warm  the  houses  when  winter  comes 
and  the  cold  north  wind  drives  the  snow  before  him," 
said  the  birches. 


-«  73  8<- 

"  We  have  the  same  work  to  do,"  said  a  tall  fir 
tree,  and  she  bowed  gracefully,  drooping  her  branches 
toward  the  ground. 

The  little  spruce  tree  heard  the  other  trees  talking 
about  their  work  in  the  world.  This  made  her  sad, 


and  she   thought,    "  What  work   can  I   do?     What 
will  become  of  me?  " 

But  she  could  not  think  of  any  way  in  which  she 
could  be  useful.  She  decided  to  ask  the  other  trees 
in  the  forest. 


•HQ  74  8<- 

So  she  asked  the  oak,  the  pine  and  the  fir,  but  they 
were  so  proud  and  stately  they  did  not  even  hear  her. 

Then  she  asked  the  beautiful  white  birch  that  stood 
near  by.  "  You  have  no  work  to  do,"  said  the  birch, 
"  because  you  can  never  grow  large  enough.  Perhaps 
you  might  be  a  Christmas  tree,  but  that  is  all." 

"  What  is  a  Christmas  tree? "  asked  the  little 
spruce. 

"  I  do  not  know  exactly/'  replied  the  birch.  "  Some- 
times when  the  days  are  short  and  cold,  and  the  ground 
is  covered  with  snow,  men  come  out  here  into  the 
forest.  They  look  at  all  the  little  spruce  trees  and 
choose  the  prettiest,  saying,  '  This  will  do  for  a 
Christmas  tree.7 

"  Then  they  chop  it  down  and  carry  it  away.  What 
they  do  with  it  I  cannot  tell." 

The  little  spruce  asked  the  rabbit  that  hopped  over 
the  snow,  the  owls  that  slept  in  the  pines,  and  the 
squirrels  that  came  to  find  nuts  and  acorns. 

But  HO  one  knew  more  than  the  birch  tree.  No 
one  could  tell  what  men  did  with  the  Christmas  trees. 


-»8  75  9«~ 

Then  the  little  spruce  tree  wept  because  she  had  no 
work  to  do  and  could  not  be  of  any  use  in  the 
world. 

,     The  tears  hardened  into  clear,  round  drops,  which 
we  call  gum. 

At  last  a  boy  came  into  the  forest  with  an  axe  in 
his  hand.  He  looked  the  little  tree  all  over.  "  Perhaps 
this  will  do  for  a  Christmas  tree,"  he  said.  So  he 
chopped  it  down,  laid  it  on  a  sled,  and  dragged  it 
home. 

The  next  day  the  boy  sold  the  tree,  and  it  was  taken 
into  a  large  room  and  dressed  up  with  pop  corn  and 
gilded  nuts  and  candles.  Packages  of  all  sizes  and 
shapes,  and  tiny  bags  filled  with  candy,  were  tied  on 
its  branches. 

The  tree  was  trembling  with   the  excitement,  but 
•  she  stood  as  still  as  she  could.    "  What  if  I  should 
drop  some  of  this  fruit,"  she  thought. 

When  it  began  to  grow  dark,  every  one  left  the 
room  and  the  tree  was  alone.  It  began  to  feel  lonely 
and  to  think  sad  thoughts. 


-«  76  &- 

Soon  the  door  opened  and  a  lady  came  in.  She 
lighted  all  the  candles. 

How  light  and  glowing  it  was  then! 

The  tree  had  never  even  dreamed  of  anything  so 
beautiful ! 

Then  the  children  came  and  danced  about  the 
tree,  singing  a  Christmas  song.  The  father  played  on 
his  violin,  and  the  baby  sat  in  her  mother's  arms, 
smiling  and  cooing. 

"  Now  I  know  what  I  was  made  for/7  thought  the 
spruce  tree;  "  I  was  intended  to  give  joy  to  the  little 
ones,  because  I,  myself,  am  so  small  and  humble.77 

—  Anna  von  Rydingsvdrd. 

A  ROSE 
A  sepal,  petal,  and  a  thorn 

Upon  a  common  summer's  morn, 
A  flash  of  dew,  a  bee  or  two, 
A  breeze 
A  caper  in  the  trees, — 

And  I'm  a  rose ! 

—  Emily  Dickinson. 


-»6  77  8«- 

THE  EVE  OF  ST.   NICHOLAS 

It  was  the  Eve  of  St.  Nicholas.  In  Germany  St. 
Nicholas's  Day  comes  on  the  sixth  of  December. 

The  children  were  in  the  nursery.  On  the  hearth 
before  the  fireplace,  were  five  little  sugar  shoes. 

Thekla  was  filling  her  shoe  with  oats.  Max  put 
rye  in  his  shoe.  Hans  put  an  apple  in  his,  and  Gretchen 
filled  hers  with  lumps  of  sugar. 

Betty,  the  poor  little  girl  who  sometimes  helped  in 
the  kitchen,  had  only  a  bit  of  brown  bread  to  put  in 
her  shoe. 

The  children  were  expecting  St.  Nicholas,  who 
always  comes  on  a  white  horse,  and  the  things  in  the 
shoes  were  for  the  horse  to  eat. 

As  the  clock  struck  six  there  was  a  loud  knock  at 
the  door. 

Aunt  Hilda  opened  the  door,  and  in  came  St. 
Nicholas.  He  was  very  tall  and  had  a  long  white 
beard.  He  wore  a  long  black  robe  and  a  red  and  white 
cap,  with  a  big  red  tassel. 


->S   78  S<~ 

"  Dear  little  children/'  he  said,  "  it  will  soon  be 
Christmas.  I  have  come  to  find  the  good  children.  I 
shall  bring  gifts  to  them  on  Christmas  Eve.  Has 
Thekla  learned  to  knit?  " 


"  Yes,  indeed,"  said  her  mother.  "  See  this  pair  of 
stockings  she  has  knit  for  Hans." 

"  They  are  very  well  made,"  said  St.  Nicholas. 
"  I  shall  surely  bring  a  gift  for  Thekla.  Has  Hans 
learned  to  get  up  early?  " 


-»8  79  8<~ 

"  We  have  not  had  to  call  him  for  six  weeks/'  said 
his  father. 

"  Good/ '  said  St.  Nicholas.  "  Has  Max  learned  his 
multiplication  tables?  " 

"  Max  is  trying  very  hard,"  said  Aunt  Hilda.  "  He 
knows  all  but  the  nines  and  twelves." 

"  And  the  dear  little  Gretchen?  "  said  St.  Nicholas, 
patting  the  baby's  golden  curls. 

They  all  smiled,  and  the  mother  said,  "  The  dear 
little  Gretchen  is  always  sweet  and  good." 

"  Well,  well,  I  shall  certainly  bring  many  beautiful 
gifts  to  this  house,"  said  St.  Nicholas. 

"  And  don't  forget  little  Betty,"  said  Aunt  Hilda. 

So  the  good  Saint  took  the  oats,  the  rye  and  the 
apple,  the  lumps  of  sugar,  and  the  bit  of  brown 
bread  out  of  the  sugar  shoes  and  went  out  into 
the  night.  T  suppose  he  gave  them  to  his  horse. 

"  St.  Nicholas  has  eyes  like  Uncle  Max,"  said 
Thekla. 

"  He  smiled  like  Uncle  Max,  too,"  said  her 
brother. 


-»B   80   8<~ 

St.  Nicholas  kept  his  word.  On  Christmas  Eve 
there  was  a  Christmas  tree  in  the  parlor.  On  it  there 
were  many  beautiful  gifts,  and  little  Betty  was  not 
forgotten. 

The  next  night  the  children  hung  gifts  on  the  same 
tree  for  father,  mother,  Uncle  Max,  Aunt  Hilda,  and 
the  dear  Grandfather.  • 

Each  one  of  the  children  had  something  of  his  very 
own  for  Grandfather. 

Thekla  had  knit  a  warm  scarf  for  him.  Max  can 
carve  in  wood,  so  he  had  made  a  stout  cane  and  had 
carved  it  very  handsomely. 

Hans  drew  a  picture  for  him,  and  the  dear  little 
Gretchen  gave  him  two  of  her  very  best  kisses. 

Oh,  it  was  a  very  happy  Christmas! 


-»8    81    fr- 

ROBIN  REDBREAST 

Good-by,  good-by  to  summer! 
For  summer's  nearly  done; 
The  garden  smiling  faintly, 
Cool  breezes  in  the  sun; 
Our  thrushes  now  are  silent, 

Our  swallows  flown  away,  — 
But  Robin's  here,  in  coat  of  brown, 
And  ruddy  breast-knot  gay, 
Robin,  Robin  Redbreast, 

0  Robin  dear! 
Robin  sings  so  sweetly 
In  the  falling  of  the  year. 

Bright  yellow,  red,  and  orange, 
The  leaves  come  down  in  hosts; 

The  trees  are  Indian  princes, 
But  soon  they'll  turn  to  ghosts; 

The  leathery  pears  and  apples 
Hang  russet  on  the  bough; 


-*  82  Si- 
It's  autumn,  autumn,  autumn  late, 
Twill  soon  be  winter  now. 
Robin,  Robin  Redbreast, 

0  Robin  dear! 

And  what  will  this  poor  Robin  do? 
For  pinching  days  are  near. 

The  fireside  for  the  cricket, 

The  wheat  stack  for  the  mouse, 
When  trembling  night- winds  whistle 

And  moan  all  round  the  house. 
The  frosty  ways  like  iron, 

The  branches  plumed  with  snow,  — 
Alas!  in  winter  dead  and  dark, 
Where  can  poor  Robin  go? 
Robin,  Robin  Redbreast, 

0  Robin  dear! 

And  a  crumb  of  bread  for  Robin, 
His  little  heart  to  cheer ! 

—  William  Allmgham. 


-»8  83  9«- 

."THE  LITTLE  TURKEYS" 

IN   SCHOOL 

The  "  little  Turkeys  "  that  I  am  going  to  tell  you 
about  are  the  children  that  live  in  a  far  away  land 
called  Turkey. 

To  reach  this  land  you  would  have  to  travel  many 
hundreds  of  miles  in  railroad  trains  and  big  ships. 

In  fact  it  is  almost  as  far  away  as  China,  and  that, 
you  know,  is  farther  away  than  you  can  imagine. 

The  "  little  Turkeys "  are  very  interesting,  and 
they  would  think  your  way  of  living  just  as  strange  as 
you  will  think  theirs  is. 

To  begin  at  the  very  beginning,  the  tiny  baby 
doesn't  wear  any  dresses.  He  is  wrapped  round  and 
round,  body,  legs,  and  arms,  with  cloths,  until  he 
looks  like  a  dry-goods  bundle. 

Every  baby  wears  a  gay  little  bonnet,  usually  bright 
green,  because  the  favorite  color  of  the  Turks  is  green. 

The  Turkish  baby  is  often  hung  up  in  a  little  cloth 


-«8   84   &- 

\ 

hammock,  but  sometimes  he  is  rocked  to  sleep  in  a 
wooden  cradle. 

The  cradle  is  a  long  wooden  box  on  low  rockers 
with  high  carved  ends. 

In  the  Sultan's  treasure  house  is  a  cradle  of  solid 
gold,  decorated  with  pearls,  diamonds,  and  rubies. 
This  is  the  cradle  in  which  the  baby  princes  are  rocked ; 
and  it  is  very  beautiful,  as  you  can  easily  imagine. 

When  the  boy  baby  is  about  a  year  old  he  is  placed 
in  charge  of  a  man  nurse,  if  the  father  is  not  too  poor. 
This  man  takes  care  of  him  until  he  is  six  years  old. 

Then  the  boy  is  given  a  new  suit  of  clothes  and  a 
pony,  and  he  is  ready  to  go  to  school.  Almost  all  of 
the  boys  in  Turkey  ride  on  horse-back.  I  think  you 
would  like  that. 

The  new  suit  may  be  big  baggy  trousers,  with  an 
embroidered  shirt  and  short  jacket.  Or  it  may  be 
long  full  trousers  of  gay  striped  calico,  and  a  little 
jacket,  quilted  in  puffy  squares. 

Every  boy  wears  on  his  head  a  red  fez  with  a  black 
tassel. 


-«  85  &- 

In  his  new  suit,  the  boy  starts  off  for  school  on  his 
pony,  and  his  brothers  go  with  him.  The  bells  on  the 
pony  jingle,  the  boys  shout  and  sing,  and  it  is  a  very 
merry  procession. 

The  schoolhouse   stands  near  the  church.     Inside, 


it  is  very  plain.  There  is  a  blackboard  hung  from 
the  ceiling,  a  shelf  for  books  and  slates,  and  one  for  a 
water  jar. 

There  is  a  little  shelf  for  the  teacher's  pipe,  and  a 
place  where  he  makes  coffee  over  a  tiny  lamp.     For 


-»8   86   8**- 

the  teacher  smokes  and  sips  coffee  while  the  children 
study  their  lessons. 

The  children  sit  cross-legged  on  mats  on  the  floor, 
and  study  out  loud,  bending  their  bodies  back  and 
forth  all  the  time.  Perhaps  they  think  this  helps  them 
to  remember. 

They  learn  their  letters,  and  very  queer  letters 
you  would  think  them,  out  of  the  Koran.  They  have 
no  other  book  until  they  know  this  one  by  heart, 
and  can  repeat  it  and  write  it. 

Then  they  learn  a  little  arithmetic  and  a  very  little 
geography. 

In  olden  times  the  girls  did  not  go  to  school  at  all, 
but  stayed  at  home  learning  to  keep  house,  sew,  and 
embroider.  They  were  also  taught  to  weave  cloth  and 
to  make  beautiful  rugs. 

Now  there  are  many  schools  for  girls,  as  well  as 
high  schools  and  colleges  for  both  girls  and  boys. 

The  noise  of  the  studying  is  stopped  once  during 
the  day.  At  noon  the  time  for  prayer  is  called  out 
from  the  tower  of  the  church.  Then  all  is  quiet  for 


-•8  87  8<- 

a  few  minutes  while  teacher  and  pupils  kneel  to  say 
the  midday  prayer. 

Then  the  candy-man  appears  with  all  sorts  of  sweets 
on  trays.  The  candies  are  called  "  Turkish  delights." 
They  are  "  pasty,  creamy,  crackly  things,  made  from 
rose-leaves,  violets,  nuts,  dates  and  grapes,  mixed 
with  honey,  sugar,  syrup  and  spices." 

Doesn't  that  sound  good  enough  to  eat? 

Where  do  the  "  little  Turkeys  "  live? 
How  would  you  reach  their  country? 
Describe  the  Turkish  baby's  cradle. 
Describe  the  princes'  cradle. 
How  does  the  Turkish  boy  go  to  school? 
Tell  what  you  can  about  the  school. 
What  does  the  candy-man  sell? 
What  are  the  candies  made  of,  and  what  are  they 
called? 


-«  88  8**- 

"THE  LITTLE  TURKEYS " 

AT   HOME 

Little  boys  who  like  to  lie  in  bed  in  the  morning 
would  not  like  to  live  in  Turkey. 

All  the  grown  people  and  all  the  children  have  to 


get  up  twice  every  day. 

They  get  up  first  at  day-break,  wash  their  faces 
and  hands,  and  repeat  their  morning  prayer.  Then 
they  go  back  to  bed. 


-»8  89  &- 

Two  hours  later  they  rise,  wash,  and  have  their  coffee. 
Breakfast  is  served  two  hours  later  still. 

After  breakfast  the  father  goes  to  work  and  the 
mother  gets  the  children  ready  for  school. 

The  children  have  their  lunch  at  school,  as  I  told 
you.  Dinner  is  served  at  night.  If  there  are  gentlemen 
to  dine  with  the  father,  only  the  sons  sit  at  the  table. 
The  mother  and  daughters  dine  in  another  room. 

After  dinner  every  one  has  a  good  time.  The  children 
play  games,  and  sometimes  the  older  people  play 
with  them.  They  are  also  fond  of  story  telling,  and  tell 
wonderful  stories  of  battle  and  adventure. 

Then  the  family  goes  to  bed  on  the  floor.  That  is, 
they  lay  mattresses  on  the  floor  and  cover  themselves 
with  blankets. 

Every  one  goes  to  church  on  Friday.  The  boys 
sit  with  their  father,  and  the  girls  sit  with  their  mother 
in  a  gallery  where  they  cannot  be  seen.  At  the  entrance 
to  the  church  they  wash  their  hands  and  feet  and  put 
on  a  pair  of  slippers. 

After  church  the   children  play  games  of  tag,   or 


-•8  9O  8* 

hide-and-seek.  They  have  few  toys.  The  girls  have 
dolls,  and  the  boys  have  marbles  or  balls.  The 
marbles  are  nothing  but  a  kind  of  round  nut. 

They  do  not  have  the  holidays  you  do,  but  there 
are  a  few  feast  days,  when  they  have  a  very  good 
time.  One  of  the  feasts  is  like  our  Easter,  only  it 
lasts  three  days.  Then  there  are  merry-go-rounds  in 
the  squares,  and  ponies  to  ride  on  for  a  penny. 

The  girls  have  new  dresses  of  red,  blue  and  yellow 
silk,  and  the  boys  have  gay  little  uniforms. 

The  candy-men  walk  the  streets  with  big  trays 
piled  high  with  sweets,  and  every  one  eats  a  great  deal 
too  much  candy. 

Should  you  like  to  live  in  Turkey,  or  do  you  like 
your  own  country  best? 

Tell  what  the  "  Little  Turkeys  "  do  in  the  morning. 

What  do  the  children  do  after  dinner? 

What  toys  do  they  have?   What  games  do  they  play? 

Where  do  the  Turkish  people  sleep? 

Would  you  like  to  live  in  Turkey?    Why? 


91 


"  GILLYFLOWER  GENTLEMAN  " 

Why  do  you  play  alone,  dear,"  asked  the  Play 
Angel,  "  and  look  so  sadly  over  your  shoulder  at 
the  other  children?  " 


"Because  they  are  so  selfish!"  said  the  child. 
"  They  will  not  play  with  me." 

"  Oh,  what  a  pity!  "  said  the  Angel.  "  Tell  me  all 
about  it." 

"  I  want  to  play  one  game,  and  they  all  want  to 


-»8  92  8«- 

play  another!"  said  the  child.  "It  is  very  unkind  of 
them." 

"  Did  you  ever  play  Gillyflower  Gentleman?  "  asked 
the  Angel. 

"  No/'  said  the  child.     "  What  is  it?  " 

"  You  shall  see/'  said  the  Angel.  "  Let  us  ask  the 
others  if  they  know  it." 

The  other  children  did  not  know  it,  but  they  were 
eager  to  learn,  and  soon  they  were  all  playing  Gilly- 
flower Gentleman.  They  played  till  all  their  breath 
was  gone,  and  they  had  to  sit  down  on  the  haycocks 
to  rest. 

"  That  was  a  fine  game!  "  said  the  first  child.  "  I 
will  play  yours  now,  if  you  wish  me  to." 

"  We  were  just  going  to  tell  you  that  we  would  play 
yours,"  said  the  other  children.  So  they  played  both 
the  games,  and  the  Play  Angel  went  back  to  her  work. 

—  Laura  E.  Richards. 


-•8  93  &- 

THE  RULER 

It  was  time  for  the  Child  to  have  lessons.  The 
father  gave  him  a  sheet  of  paper,  smooth  and 
white;  a  pencil,  and  a  ruler. 


"  Write  as  well  as  you  can/'  he  said,  "  and  be  sure 
you  keep  the  lines  straight!  " 

The  Child  admired  the  ruler  very  much.     "  I  will 


-•8  94  8<" 

put  it  up  on  the  wall/7  he  said,  "  where  I  can  see  it 
always/' 

So  he  put  it  up  on  the  wall,  and  the  sunbeams 
sparkled  on  it. 

"  It  must  be  pure  gold,"  said  the  Child;  "  there  is 
nothing  else  so  beautiful  in  the  world."  And  then  he 
began  his  task. 

By  and  by  the  lesson  time  was  over,  and  the  father 
came  to  see  what  had  been  done. 

The  Child  showed  him  the  paper  on  which  he  had 
written  his  task.  Up  and  down  went  the  lines,  here 
and  there,  from  side  to  side  of  the  sheet,  which  was 
covered  with  sprawling,  straggling  letters.  There  were 
spots,  too,  where  he  had  tried  to  rub  out  something. 
It  was  not  a  pretty  page. 

"  What  is  this?  "  asked  the  father.  "  Where  is  your 
ruler?  " 

"  There  it  is,"  said  the  Child.  "  It  is  up  on  the 
wall.  It  was  so  beautiful  that  I  put  it  up  there  where 
I  could  see  it  all  the  time.  See  where  it  hangs!  But 
it  does  not  seem  as  bright  as  it  was." 


-«  95  &- 

"  No,"   said   the   father.      "  It   would    have    been 
brighter  if  you  had  used  it." 

"  But  I  admired  it  very  much,"  said  the  Child. 
"  But  your  lines  are  crooked,"  said  the  father. 
—  Laura  E. Richards  (Adapted). 

THE  MOON 

There 's  a  throne  in  the  east  and  a  throne  in  the  west, 

And  the  royal  heavens  lie  between. 

For  the  golden  sun  is  a  sceptred  king, 

And  the  moon  is  his  crowned  queen. 

A  lonely  queen  is  the  silver  moon, 

Though  the  dimpling  stars  her  maidens  are; 

She  passes  among  them  silently 

As  she  follows  her  lord  afar. 

—  Edith  Colby  Banfield. 


-»S  96  S«- 

THE  CHILDREN  OF  ARMENIA 

When  you  were  a  very  little  boy  did  you  have  a 
"  Noah's  Ark  "  for  a  plaything?  And  do  you  remember 
the  story  of  "  Noah  and  his  Ark?  " 

This  story  tells,  you  remember,  about  a  severe  storm, 
when  it  rained  forty  days  and  forty  nights  and  all  the 
land  was  flooded. 

But  Noah  had  built  an  ark  and  invited  two  animals 
of  every  kind,  and  a  few  persons,  to  live  in  his  ark 
during  the  flood. 

When  the  storms  were  over,  the  ark  rested  on  a 
mountain,  and  this  was  Mount  Ararat. 

Mount  Ararat  is  in  the  country  of  Armenia,  and  in 
this  country  lives  a  very  interesting  people. 

Armenia  is  a  mountainous  country  and  Mount 
Ararat  is  the  highest  of  all  the  mountains.  It  is  so 
high  that  it  has  a  snow  cap  all  the  year  round,  even 
during  the  hottest  part  of  the  summer. 

The  Armenian  children  are  often  very  pretty,  with 
black  hair,  black  eyes,  and  round,  red  cheeks.  They 


-»8  97  &- 

are  bright  and  anxious  to  learn,  and  they  often  ride  a 

long  way  on  donkey-back  to  get  to  the  church  schools. 

The  schools  are  not  free  like  the  school  you  go  to, 

and  often  the  parents  have  to  pay  the  school  with 


grain  and  cheese  because  they  have  no  money. 

There  is  a  free  school  near  every  church,  and  the 
priest  is  the  teacher.  Here  the  little  boys  and  girls 
learn  the  Armenian  alphabet,  and  also  study  reading, 
writing,  geography,  and  grammar. 


-*  98  8«- 

The  mirigs  (mothers)  of  the  little  Armenians  have 
to  wake  them  very  early,  for  they  have  to  go  to 
school  at  seven. 

They  sit  cross-legged  on  the  floor,  and  study  their 
lessons  aloud.  All  the  children  carry  a  lunch  from 
home,  and  they  eat  together  in  another  little  room, 
still  sitting  on  the  floor. 

Boys  and  girls  go  to  the  same  school  until  they 
are  ten  or  twelve  years  old;  then  the  girls  go  to  a 
different  school.  Here  they  learn  dressmaking  and 
embroidery.  The  materials  are  supplied  by  the 
school,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  the  articles  are 
sold  and  the  money  goes  to  the  school. 

The  boys  do  not  earn  money  for  the  school,  but  they 
have  to  sing  in  the  church  on  Sunday. 

When  school  closes  at  night  the  children  form  in 
line,  with  their  hands  folded,  and  march  to  their 
homes.  The  line  stops  at  each  house  where  a  child 
lives,  while  the  little  one  bids  his  friends  good- 
night. 

In  winter  there  are  deep  snows,  and  then  Hagop 


-»6  99  &- 

(Jacob)  and  Garabet  (George)  and  the  other  boys 
build  snowmen  and  have  snowball  battles. 

But  in  summer  they  work  more  than  they  play, 
for  they  have  to  go  up  to  the  mountains  with  herds 
of  goats.  A  few  women  go  to  cook  for  them,  and  they 
all  live  in  huts  built  of  boughs. 

The  girls  have  rag  dolls,  with  painted  eyes,  nose 
and  mouth,  and  very  red  cheeks.  These  dolls  are  dressed 
just  like  the  little  girls,  with  gaily  colored  dresses 
of  red,  green,  purple,  or  yellow.  Their  hair  is  braided 
in  long  braids,  and  strung  with  beads  and  coins. 

Where  is  Mount  Ararat? 
Tell  the  story  of  Noah  and  his  Ark. 
What  is  the  highest  mountain  in  Armenia? 
What  covers  the  top  of  this  mountain? 
What  is  the  Armenian  word  for  "  mamma?  >! 
What  do  the  children  learn  in  the  church  schools? 
How  do  the  children  go  home  from  school? 
What  do  the  boys  do  in  winter?     In  summer? 


10O 


ARMENIAN   HOMES 

Hagop  and  Garabet  live  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Ararat 
in  a  small  village. 

Their  father  is  very  poor  and  cannot  afford  to 
build  a  house,  so  they  live  in  a  hut,  built  of  mud, 
with  walls  three  feet  thick. 

The  inside  of  the  house  is  plastered  with  chopped 
straw  and  mud  mixed  together.  The  mud  roof  is  flat 
and  is  kept  smooth  by  rolling  it  often  with  a  stone, 
or  treading  it  with  bare  feet.  Hagop  and  Garabet 
think  it  is  great  fun  to  go  up  on  the  roof  after  it  rains 
and  tread  the  soft  mud  with  their  bare  feet.  Then 
their  father  rolls  it  with  a  big  round  stone  until  it  is 
smooth  and  firm. 

There  are  many  huts  like  this  in  Armenia,  and 
they  are  often  half  under  ground,  with  the  earth 
that  has  been  dug  out  piled  up  around  them.  A 
village  of  such  dwellings  looks  a  good  deal  like  a 
village  of  huge  ant-hills. 

There  is  only  one  door  for  the  people  and  animals. 


-•8 

Animals?  Yes,  animals.  For  in  winter  the  poor 
people  let  the  animals  come  into  the  room  with  them, 
and  almost  every  family  has  at  least  a  few  goats. 

There  is  a  fireplace  in  the  middle  of  the  earth  floor 
for  cooking,  but  there  is  no  chimney,  and  the  room 
is  very  smoky. 

The  mother  makes  big  thin  sheets  of  blanket  bread 
and  bakes  it  before  the  fire.  Sometimes  she  makes 
little  cakes  of  the  bread  and  spreads  them  with  thick 
cream. 

The  children  drink  goats'  milk  with  their  bread, 
and  once  in  a  long  while  they  have  a  few  raisins. 

There  are  no  windows  in  the  hut,  instead  there  are 
a  few  holes  for  light;  and  there  are  no  tables,  no 
chairs,  no  beds,  no  bureaus.  In  fact  there  is  no  furni- 
ture except  some  mats  and  blankets.  Hagop's  mother 
weaves  the  mats  and  blankets  herself.  The  children 
like  to  watch  the  patterns  grow  on  the  rugs  as  the 
mother  weaves  the  colored  threads  back  and 
forth. 

The  people  sit  on  the  mats  in  the  daytime  and  at 


night  they  roll  themselves  in  the  blankets  and  sleep  on 
these  same  mats. 

Of  course  the  rich  people  in  the  towns  and  cities 
have  much  more  comfortable  houses,  and  they  often 


have  beautiful  carved  furniture  and  handsome  rugs. 
But  these  houses  have  flat  roofs,  too,  and  in  summer 
every  one,  rich  or  poor,  lives  on  the  roofs. 

There  all  the  work  is  done;  the  women  weave  rugs 


-•8  103  &- 

or  make  beautiful  lace;  the  little  girls  play  with  their 
dolls;  and  at  night  the  mats  are  spread  and  the  family 
sleep  under  the  stars. 

I  do  not  believe  I  should  like  to  live  in  Armenia, 
but  I  should  enjoy  sleeping  out  of  doors  on  the  warm 
summer  nights,  watching  the  twinkling  stars  until  I 
fell  asleep. 

Describe  the  house  where  Hagop  and  Garabet  live. 

What  does  a  village  of  these  huts  look  like? 

Where  do  the  goats  live? 

What  makes  the  house  smoky? 

What  do  the  children  have  to  eat  and  drink? 

Describe  the  inside  of  the  house  where  Hagop  and 
Garabet  live. 

Where  do  the  people  live  in  the  summer  time? 

Where  do  they  sleep  in  summer?     In  winter? 

Tell  all  the  things  you  can  that  Hagop 's  mother  has 
to  do. 


•H8  104  8*- 

THE  NEST 

Under  the  apple  tree,  somebody  said, 

"Look  at  that  robin's  nest  overhead! 

All  of  sharp  sticks,  and  of  mud,  and  clay  — 

What  a  rough  home  for  a  summer  day!  " 

Gaunt  stood  the  apple  tree,  gaunt  and  bare, 

And  creaked  in  the  winds  which  blustered  there. 

The  nest  was  wet  with  the  April  rain; 

The  clay  ran  down  in  an  ugly  stain; 

Little  it  looked,  I  must  truly  say, 

Like  a  lovely  home  for  a  summer  day. 

Up  in  the  apple  tree,  somebody  laughed, 
"  Little  you  know  of  the  true  home-craft. 
Laugh  if  you  like,  at  my  sticks  and  clay; 
They'll  make  a  good  home  for  a  summer  day. 
May  turns  the  apple  tree  pink  and  white, 
Sunny  all  day,  and  fragrant  all  night. 
My  babies  will  never  feel  the  showers, 
For  rain  can't  get  through  these  feathers  of  ours. 


-»8  105  8<~ 

Snug  under  my  wings  they  will  cuddle  and  creep, 

The  happiest  babies  awake  or  asleep/7 

Said  the  robin-mother,  flying  away 

After  more  of  the  sticks  and  mud  and  clay. 

Under  the  apple  tree  somebody  sighed, 
"  Ah  me,  the  blunder  of  folly  and  pride ! 
The  roughest  small  house  of  mud  or  clay 
Might  be  a  s>veet  home  for  a  summer  day, 
Sunny  and  fragrant  all  day,  all  night, 
With  only  good  cheer  for  fragrance  and  light ; 
And  the  bitterest  storms  of  grief  and  pain 
Will  beat  and  break  on  that  home  in  vain, 
Where  a  true-hearted  mother  broods  alway, 
And  makes  the  whole  year  like  a  summer  day." 

—  Helen  Hunt  Jackson. 


AHMOW  — THE  WOLF 

i 

Little  Ahmow  was  an  Eskimo  boy.  He  lived  with 
his  parents  on  the  bleak  northern  shore  of  Hudson 
Bay. 

During  the  long  Arctic  winter  these  Eskimos  kill 
the  walrus  which  live  at  the  edge  of  the  ice.  In  the 
short  summer  they  hunt  them  on  the  islands  near  the 
shore. 

The  walrus  meat  is  cut  into  strips  and  sewed  up  in 
bags  made  of  the  walrus  skin.  This  is  to  keep  the 
dogs  from  stealing  and  eating  it. 

The  walrus  oil  is  put  into  casks  to  be  used  in  the 
dark  winter  months  for  heat  and  light. 

Ahmow's  father  killed  many  walrus  every  summer 
and  stored  the  meat  and  oil  on  the  islands.  Then  in 
the  winter  he  rode  over  on  the  ice  to  get  it. 

One  cold  winter  day,  when  Ahmow  was  ten  years 
old,  his  father  said,  "  To-morrow  I  shall  go  to  the 
island  for  oil." 


-»S  107  8<- 

"  We  need  meat,  too/'  said  his  wife,  "  and  food  for 
the  dogs." 

"  May  I  go  with  you,  father?  "  said  Ahmow.  "  I 
will  help  you  all  I  can." 


t(  AT~   9) 


No,"  answered  Nannook.  "  It  is  far  and  you  are 
only  a  boy." 

Ahmow  begged  so  hard  that  at  last  his  father  said 
he  might  go. 

"  But  it  will  be  a  long  cold  ride,  and  there  are  often 
bears  and  wolves  on  the  island." 


-«  1O8  8<- 

So  Ahmow  dressed  himself  in  his  new  reindeer  suit 
that  his  mother  had  made,  and  pulled  his  sealskin 
cap  well  over  his  ears. 

He  helped  his  father  get  ready  for  the  long,  cold 
journey.  First  they  put  a  thick  coating  of  ice  on  the 
sledge-runners.  Then  they  filled  two  sealskin  bags 
with  food  and  water. 

They  called  the  dogs  and  harnessed  them  to  the 
sledge.  There  were  eight  of  them,  and  they  could 
run  like  the  wind. 

Last  of  all  Ahmow  crawled  into  the  house,  bade  his 
mother  good-by,  and  brought  out  the  long  whip. 

Nannook  wrapped  his  little  boy  in  a  bearskin, 
cracked  his  whip  over  the  dogs,  and  away  they  flew 
over  the  ice.  Oh,  how  happy  Ahmow  was! 

n 

After  a  while  the  dogs  stopped  running  and  began 
to  trot,  and  Ahmow  looked  about  over  the  vast  fields 
of  ice. 

Not  a  tree,  not  a  house,  not  a  person  was  in  sight. 


-»8  109  9«- 

As  far  as  he  could  see  there  was  nothing  but  ice  and 
snow.  Everything  was  still  and  white  in  the  dim  light. 

When  they  had  nearly  reached  the  island,  what 
did  they  see  but  a  huge  polar  bear!  He  was  prowling 
around  the  oil  casks,  looking  for  something  to  eat. 

Nannook  unharnessed  the  dogs  at  once.  "  Go," 
he  cried,  and  they  raced  across  the  ice  after  the  bear. 

The  bear  was  so  big  and  clumsy  that  he  could  not 
run  fast,  The  dogs  soon  surrounded  him,  and  held 
him  until  Nannook  came  running  up  to  shoot  him. 

Ahmow  helped  his  father  skin  the  bear  and  cut  up 
the  meat.  Then  they  loaded  the  sledge  with  a  cask  of 
oil,  some  walrus  meat,  the  bearskin,  and  part  of  the 
bear  meat. 

After  eating  their  luncheon,  Ahmow  was  again 
rolled  up  in  the  bear  rug,  and  they  started  for  home. 
Nannook  walked  beside  the  sledge.  The  dogs  walked 
too,  because  the  load  was  so  heavy. 

When  they  were  nearly  halfway  home,  Nannook 
saw  some  reindeer. 

"  Watch  the  dogs,  Ahmow/'  he  said,  "  and  I  will 


-*  110  8*- 

try  to  shoot  one  of  those  reindeer.  Then  we  can  have 
a  fine  dinner." 

So  he  took  the  gun  and  ran  swiftly  over  the  snow. 
Soon  he  was  out  of  sight,  and  Ahmow  was  alon^ 
with  the  dogs. 

The  little  boy  played  with  the  dogs  at  first,  but  after 
a  while  they  curled  up  and  went  to  sleep. 

Ahmow  was  sleepy,  too,  and  it  was  So  warm  in  the 
bear  rug  that  he  almost  went  to  sleep. 

All  at  once  he  heard  a  growl,  then  a  dog  barked. 
Ahmow  was  wide  awake  and  listening.  "  What  is 
it,  Naka?  "  he  said  to  the  dog  that  barked. 

Naka  barked  again,  and  the  hair  stood  up  straight 
on  his  back. 

Ahmow  stood  up  and  looked  about.  There  was  a 
fierce,  hungry-looking  wolf  coming  toward  him!  He 
looked  again!  One,  two,  three,  four  wolves  were 
leaping  over  the  snow! 

The  boy  threw  off  the  rug,  and  seized  his  father's 
whip  and  walrus  spear.  "  Come  here,"  he  called  to 
the  dogs.  "  Come  here  to  the  sledge." 


-•8  HI  &- 

Then,  as  the  wolves  came  nearer,  he  jumped  into 
the  cask  of  meat. 

One  big  wolf  ran  up  to  the  sledge.    Ahmow  leaned 


JclLJ 


over  and  struck  him  with  the  whip  with  all  his 
might.  The  wolf  howled  and  turned  back. 

Another  wolf  would  have  killed  one  of  the  dogs,  but 
Ahmow  threw  out  a  big  piece  of  bear  meat.  The 
wolf  seized  the  meat  and  began  to  eat  it. 

Now  a  third  wolf  came  up  to  the  sledge.  Just 
then  Ahmow  saw  his  father  running  toward  him. 


-•8  112  8*- 

"  He  will  drive  the  wolves  away,"  he  thought, 
"  but  I  should  like  to  kill  one  if  I  can." 

So  he  held  the  spear  as  he  had  seen  his  father  hold 
it.  As  the  wolf  came  nearer,  he  raised  it.  As  the 
wolf  jumped,  he  threw  it  with  all  his  might  right  into 
the  wide-open  mouth.  There  was  a  howl,  a  growl, 
and  then  the  wolf  tried  to  run  away.  But  Ahmow 
wound  the  spear  line  around  the  sledge  post  and  held 
it  tight. 

Nannook  shot  two  of  the  wolves,  but  the  one  that 
had  the  meat  got  away  with  it. 

Then  as  he  ran  to  the  sledge,  "  Look,  father," 
cried  Ahmow.  "  See  this  fine  wolf,  with  the  sharp 
nose,  and  the  bushy  tail.  He  is  held  fast  with  the 
walrus  line,  and  he  has  eaten  the  walrus  spear." 

"  Well  done,  lad,"  said  his  father.  "  You  will  be 
a  good  hunter.  Now,  you  shall  have  a  spear  of  your 
own  and  you  shall  go  with  me  on  the  big  hunts." 

So  from  that  day  the  boy  was  a  hunter,  and  the 
people  in  the  village  called  him  "  Ahmow,"  which 
means,  "  little  wolf."  —  Frederick  Schwatka. 


-»B    113 


ESKIMO  CHILDREN 

The  Eskimos  live  in  Greenland.  I  am  sure  you 
would  wonder  why  it  is  called  "  Greenland,"  for 
it  is  almost  never  "  green."  Nearly  all  the  year 


round  the  ground  is  covered  with  ice  and  snow,  so 
that  it  seems  as  if  "  Whiteland  "  would  be  a  better 
name. 

It  is  so  cold  in  Greenland  that  the  Eskimos  have 
to  wear  very  warm  clothing.     The  boys  and  girls 


•-»8  114  Si- 
and  men  and  women  dress  very  much  alike.  They 
wear  trousers  made  of  bearskin  and  coats  made  of 
sealskin.  Their  stockings  are  like  leggings  and  are 
made  of  birdskin,  with  soft  feathers  inside  to  keep 
their  feet  warm.  Over  these  they  wear  sealskin 
boots,  which  are  long  enough  to  cover  their  knees. 

It  is  so  cold  in  Greenland  that  trees  cannot  grow. 
If  you  think  of  all  the  ways  in  which  we  use  the  wood 
from  our  forest  trees  you  will  wonder  what  the  Eski- 
mos can  do  without  them. 

We  build  houses  of  wood,  but  the  Eskimos  make 
theirs  of  blocks  of  ice  and  snow. 

We  burn  wood  in  our  stoves.  The  Eskimos  burn 
oil  and  fat  which  they  get  from  the  walrus  and  the 
seal.  They  burn  this  oil  in  a  lamp  which  gives  them 
all  the  light  and  heat  they  have. 

Our  beds,  chairs  and  tables  are  made  of  wood.  The 
Eskimos  have  no  beds.  They  sleep  on  bearskin  rugs. 

They  have  no  tables  and  no  chairs.  A  big  bowl 
made  of  bone  is  set  on  the  floor,  and  the  family  sit 
around  the  bowl  on  bearskins,  and  eat  out  of  it. 


-«  115  &- 

There  are  no  stores  in  Greenland,  no  churches, 
and  no  schools.  Everything  that  a  family  needs  has 
to  be  provided  by  the  father  or  the  mother.  The 
father  goes  hunting  and  fishing,  to  get  food  to  eat, 
and  oil  to  burn,  and  skins  to  wear.  He  catches  fish, 
and  kills  bears,  seals,  walrus,  and  reindeer.  Some- 
times in  the  summer  he  kills  a  few  birds. 

The  mother  helps  cut  up  the  meat,  and  sometimes 
she  cooks  it,  but  much  of  the  meat  and  fat  is  eaten 
raw.  From  the  skins  and  furs  she  makes  all  the 
clothing  for  her  family. 

As  there  are  no  schools  the  Eskimo  children  never 
learn  to  read  or  write,  but  they  like  to  hear  their  mother 
and  father  tell  stories,  and  they  learn  these  stories 
so  that  they  can  tell  them  to  their  children. 

Every  one  in  Greenland  has  a  sled.  The  runners 
are  made  of  bone,  and  the  top  is  made  of  sealskin. 
Dogs  draw  these  sleds  over  the  snow,  and  they  can 
run  very  fast  and  very  far. 

The  boys  and  girls  have  very  few  toys,  but  they 
like  to  play  games,  and  they  have  many  good  times. 


-»8  116  8**- 

The  girls  have  dolls  made  of  bone,  and  the  boys 
play  a  game  with  a  ball  and  stick  made  of  bone. 

But  the  boys  like  to  hunt  and  fish.  They  have 
small  boats  made  of  bone  and  sealskin,  and  paddles 
made  of  bone.  Of  course  they  can  use  these  boats 
only  in  the  short  summer  time,  as  the  water  is  frozen 
the  rest  of  the  year.  When  they  go  hunting  they 
carry  spears,  and  a  bow  and  arrows. 

Do  you  think  you  would  like  to  live  in  Greenland? 

Name  ten  things  that  you  have  that  the  Eskimo 
children  have  never  seen. 

Tell  five  things  that  you  can  do  that  the  little 
Eskimos  cannot  do. 

What  do  we  have  to  eat  that  the  Eskimos  cannot 
have? 

Why  do  the  Eskimos  build  their  houses  of 
snow?  How  is  the  house  heated? 

Of  what  is  their  clothing  made? 

How  do  they  cook  and  eat  their  food? 

What  do  the  Eskimo  children  do  for  fun? 


-«  117  &- 

THE  DREAM-SHIP 

The  Dream-ship  minds  no  stormy  gales, 

Her  masts  are  all  of  gold, 
With  splendor  of  wide  silken  sails, 

Red-rosy,  fold  on  fold. 
They  spread  below,  they  spread  aloft, 

They're  never  reefed  nor  furled, 
And  they  will  bear  us  safe  and  soft, 

The  other  side  the  world. 

We  shall  not  see  the  shadow  crew 

That  work  among  the  spars, 
But  watch  the  topmast  sailing  through 

The  shoals  of  shining  stars. 
From  point  to  point  of  silver  light, 

Through  purple  gulfs  and  bays, 
As  we  below  a-gliding  go 

Along  the  water-ways. 

—  Blanche  M.  Charming* 


-»6  118  8<- 

A  TRIP  TO  JAPAN 

There  are  so  many  things  to  tell  you  about  "  Nip- 
pon," as  the  Japanese  call  their  country,  that  I  do 
not  know  where  to  begin. 

But  first  of  all  I  must  tell  you  how  we  landed. 
There  were  six  of  us,  —  Charlotte  and  Alice  and 
Fred,  their  father  and  mother,  and  I,  —  and  we  had 
come  all  the  way  across  the  Pacific  Ocean  in  a  big 
ship. 

Our  ship  was  anchored  out  in  the  harbor,  and  we 
were  told  we  might  go  ashore. 

We  wondered  if  we  were  expected  to  swim,  but  it 
seemed  too  far  for  that. 

You  can  imagine  how  glad  we  were  when  we  looked 
over  the  side  of  the  ship  and  saw  a  great  many  little 
boats  waiting  for  us. 

A  stairway  was  hung  out  over  the  side  of  the  ship, 
and  we  walked  down  into  the  little  boats,  just  as  we 
walk  down  stairs  in  our  houses. 

Then  the  trunks  were  lowered  by  ropes  into  little 


119 


Japanese  rowboats,  called  sampans,  and  we  waved 
"  good-by  "  to  the  captain  and  all  our  friends  on  the 
ship. 

Did  you  ever  go  to  sleep  and  dream  you  were  in  a 


doll's  country,  where  you  seemed  like  a  giant?  Alice 
said  she  knew  now  just  how  that  other  Alice  felt  in 
her  visit  to  Wonderland ,  for  she  never  saw  such  tiny 
little  people,  and  such  tiny  little  houses,  and  even  such 
tiny  little  trees. 


-•8  120  Bi- 

When  we  got  on  sKore  we  found  queer  little  two- 
wheeled  carriages,  drawn  by  men  instead  of  horses. 
The  carriages  are  called  jinrikishas,  and  are  just  big 
enough  for  one  person. 

We  each  got  into  one  of  these  carriages  and  the 
jinrikisha  boys  picked  up  the  shafts  and  trotted  off 
like  nice  little  ponies. 

These  boys  wear  dark-blue  trousers  that  fit  their 
legs  very  tightly,  and  a  short  blue  jacket  with  flowing 
sleeves,  and  on  their  back  is  a  Chinese  letter  painted 
in  white,  which  is  their  employer's  name. 

On  their  feet  they  wear  straw  sandals  which  they 
kick  off,  when  they  are  worn  out,  as  a  horse  casts  his 
shoe.  The  hat  is  a  funny  round  straw  disk,  covered 
with  white,  which  makes  them  look  like  toad- 
stools. 

The  houses,  as  I  said,  are  very  tiny,  not  much 
larger  than  your  playhouses,  and  the  walls  are  all 
made  of  sliding  screens  that  can  be  pushed  aside, 
leaving  the  house  open. 

The  floors  are  covered  with  matting,  which  is  as 


->8  121  8«- 

soft  as  cushions,  but  there  is  no  furniture  anywhere 
to  be  seen,  for  the  Japanese  sit  on  the  floor  and  sleep 
on  the  floor,  and  their  tables  are  tiny  little  trays. 

The  houses  are  spotlessly  clean,  for  no  Japanese 
would  think  of  going  into  a  house  with  his  shoes  on, 
any  more  than  you  would  walk  over  your  mother's 
chairs  and  cushions  in  your  shoes. 

One  day  we  went  to  see  a  wonderful  image.  We 
rode  out  to  it  in  jinrikishas,  and  we  each  had  two 
'rikisha  boys  to  pull  us.  We  sped  along  at  a  rapid 
pace,  for  the  boys  are  so  well  trained  that  they  make 
nearly  as  good  time  as  a  horse,  and  a  day's  run  is 
sometimes  as  much  as  forty  miles. 

We  had  a  regular  Japanese  "  tiffin/'  or  lunch,  at 
a  little  Japanese  inn  that  had  a  pretty  garden  all 
around  it.  We  took  off  our  shoes  at  the  door  just  as 
the  Japanese  do,  and  walked  across  the  soft,  matted 
floor. 

A  screen  was  drawn  aside  for  us  to  enter,  and  then 
closed  again,  leaving  us  in  a  little  room.  Here  we  all 
squatted  on  our  heels,  as  nearly  like  a  Japanese  as 


-•8  122  8«- 

our   stiff   muscles   would   let   us,   for,  without   being 
trained,  it  is  hard  to  shut  up  like  a  jackknife. 

Then  pretty  little  Japanese  girls  stole  in  noiselessly, 
bringing  us  trays  of  food,  one  for  each  person,  and 


knelt  down  beside  us  to  uncover  our  dishes  and  wait 
on  us. 

In  one  tiny  bowl  was  some  vegetable  soup,  in 
another  some  rice,  and  in  a  third  some  fish,  which 
was  cooked  for  us,  though  to  have  been  truly  Japanese 
we  should  have  eaten  it  raw. 


-*8  123  9- 

Of  course  there  was  tea.  Everywhere  you  go  they 
give  you  tea  in  wee  cups  without  handles;  just  about 
a  thimbleful,  without  cream  and  without  sugar; 
not  at  all  as  we  drink  it  at  home. 

But  with  all  this  feast  before  us,  there  was  nothing 
to  eat  it  with  but  two  funny  little  chopsticks,  and 
terrible  times  we  had  trying  to  manage  those  little 
sticks  that  serve  the  Japanese  so  well,  but  which 
seemed  bewitched  the  minute  we  got  them  between 
our  fingers. 

After  trying  a  long  time  we  would  get  a  mouthful, 
as  we  thought,  firmly  fixed  between  the  chopsticks, 
but  just  as  we  would  open  our  mouths  to  take  it  in, 
the  bewitched  chopsticks  would  give  a  twitch,  and 
down  the  whole  thing  would  fall  again. 

So,  though  we  spent  much  time  over  it,  we  ate 
very  little,  and  we  all  agreed  that  it  is  better  to  eat 
with  forks  as  we  do  in  America. 

After  tiffin  we  went  to  a  silk  factory,  for  a  great 
deal  of  silk  is  manufactured  in  Japan.  There  we 
found  over  three  thousand  girls  and  women  busy 


-»8  124  &- 

unrolling  the  cocoons.     The  silk  is  woven  in  another 
place,  and  rolled  in  neat  rolls,  ready  for  sale. 

Most  of  the  way  we  rode  along  the  beach,  where 
we  could  see  the  fishermen  in  their  boats,  and  in  one 
boat  was  a  boy  we  called  Urashima,  for  when  we 
looked  for  him  a  second  time  he  had  disappeared. 

—  Charlotte  Chaffee  Gibson. 

* 

What  do  the  Japanese  call  their  country? 

Where  was  the  big  ship  anchored? 

How  did  the  passengers  get  from  the  ship  to  the 
shore? 

What  is  a  jinrikisha?   How  is  it  drawn? 

Describe  a  Japanese  house. 

What  is  the  Japanese  word  for  lunch? 

What  did  the  children  have  to  eat  at  the  inn? 

What  did  they  have  to  eat  it  with? 

Where  did  they  go  after  "  tiffin?  " 

What  would  you  like  to  do  if  you  should  go  to 
Japan? 


-»8  125  9«- 

URASHIMA 

Urashima  was  a  fisher-boy  who  lived  long  ago  in 
Japan. 

One  day  he  went  out  in  his  boat,  and  after  he  had 
been  fishing  a  little  while,  he  felt  something  very  heavy 
tugging  at  his  line. 

He  gave  a  hard  pull  and  got  it  up  into  his  boat. 
Then  he  found  that  it  was  a  big  tortoise  with  such 
a  funny  old  wrinkled  face  that  he  burst  out  laughing 
when  he  saw  it. 

In  Japan  a  tortoise  lives  a  thousand  years,  so  Ura- 
shima thought  it  would  be  a  shame  to  kill  'this  funny 
old  fellow,  when  he  might  have  so  long  to  live.  Be- 
sides, a  small  fish  would  suit  him  just  as  well  for 
dinner,  so  he  threw  the  tortoise  back  into  the  sea,  and 
meant  to  go  on  fishing. 

But  somehow  the  air  seemed  too  heavy  and  drowsy, 
just  as  it  does  on  a  summer 's  day,  and  Urashima  fell 
asleep. 

While  he  was  sleeping  a  beautiful  maiden  rose  out 


-*  126  8**- 

of  the  water  and  got  into  the  boat  with  him.  Ura- 
shima  waked,  and  when  he  saw  her  he  thought  she 
was  the  most  beautiful  creature  he  had  ever  seen. 

The  maiden  spoke  to  him.  "  Urashima,"  she  said, 
"  you  thought  you  caught  a  tortoise  a  little  while  ago, 
but  it  was  really  me.  My  father  had  sent  me  in  dis- 
guise to  see  if  you  were  a  good,  kind  boy. 

"  We  know  now  that  you  are  kind-hearted,  as  you 
spared  the  life  of  the  old  tortoise.  So  I  am  going  to 
take  you  with  me  to  the  Dragon  Palace,  where  my 
father,  the  Sea  King,  and  I  live.  There  you  shall 
marry  me,  and  we  shall  be  very  happy." 

Urashima  gladly  consented,  and  they  floated  away 
till  they  came  to  a  wonderful  palace  at  the  bottom  of 
the  sea. 

This  palace  was  all  built  of  the  most  beautiful  pink 
and  white  coral,  and  was  studded  with  diamonds  and 
pearls. 

The  leaves  of  the  trees  were  emeralds,  with  berries 
of  rubies  and  sapphires;  and  the  fishes'  scales  were  of 
pure  silver  and  gold. 


I   AM   GOING   TO   TAKE    YOU   WITH   ME   TO   THE   DRAGON   PALACE. 


-*  127  8^ 

All  this  was  given  to  Urashima,  and  the  beautiful 
princess  became  his  wife.  Any  boy  would  be  happy 
in  such  a  palace,  and  Urashima  was  happy  for  three 
years. 

Then  he  said  to  the  princess,  "  I  must  go  to  see  my 
father  and  mother,  and  my  brothers  and  sisters,  but  I 
will  return  again  to  you." 

This  made  the  poor  princess  very  sad,  for  she  did 
not  wish  to  have  Urashima  go  away. 

But  when  she  saw  how  much  he  wished  to  go,  she 
gave  him  a  little  box  to  take  with  him,  telling  him 
under  no  conditions  to  open  it,  for  if  he  did  he  could 
never  return  to  her. 

So  Urashima  started  off,  and  soon  found  himself 
on  the  shore  where  he  had  lived.  But  everything  seemed 
strangely  different.  Even  the  people  were  different 
and  looked  at  him  in  a  curious  way. 

He  could  not  seem  to  find  his  way  home,  so  he  asked 
two  men  whom  he  met  if  they  could  tell  him  how  to 
reach  the  house  of  Urashima's  parents. 

"  Urashima!  "  they  cried.    "  Why,  he  was  drowned 


-*  128  8*~ 

out  fishing  about  four  hundred  years  ago,  and  not  even 
his  body  was  found.  His  father  and  mother  are 
buried  over  there.7' 

Then  they  moved  away  hastily,  for  they  thought 
he  must  be  insane. 


Jfc^rT^v 


Poor  Urashima  could  not  think  what  to  do.  He 
began  to  think  that  the  Dragon  Palace  must  be  a  part 
of  Fairyland,  where  a  day  is  the  same  as  a  year  on 
earth,  and  he  wished  to  return  to  it.  But  how  could  he 
find  the  way? 


-«  129  9«- 

He  could  not  remember  how  he  had  come. 

Suddenly  he  thought  of  the  box  that  the  princess 
had  given  him,  and  forgetting  that  he  had  promised 
not  to  open  it,  he  pulled  open  the  lid,  hoping  to  learn 
the  way  back. 

There  was  nothing  in  the  box  but  a  fleecy  white 
cloud  that  floated  softly  up  into  the  blue  sky. 

Then,  too  late,  he  remembered  what  the  princess 
had  said,  and  he  called  and  called  the  cloud  to  come 
back.  He  even  ran  along  the  beach  trying  to  catch  it. 

But  soon  he  could  not  call,  for  his  breath  came 
shorter  and  shorter,  his  hair  turned  white,  and  his 
back  became  weak  and  bent. 

Finally  he  fell  down  on  the  beach,  crushed  by  the 
weight  of  his  four  hundred  years. 

—  Charlotte  Chaff ee  Gibson. 


-€  ISO  81- 

A   DAY 

I'll  tell  you  how  the  sun  rose,  — 

A  ribbon  at  a  time. 
The  steeples  swam  in  amethyst, 

The  news  like  squirrels  ran. 

The  hills  untied  their  bonnets, 

The  bobolinks  begun, 
Then  I  said  softly  to  myself, 

"  That  must  have  been  the   sun! K 


But  how  he  set,  I  know  not. 

There  seemed  a  purple  stile 
Which  little  yellow  boys  and  girls 

Were  climbing  all  the  while. 

Till  when  they  reached  the  other  side, 

A  dominie  in  gray 
Put  gently  up  the  evening  bars, 

And  led  the  flock  away. 

—  Emily  Dickinson. 


-*)  131  B«- 

THE   ANTS'   MONDAY   DINNER 

How  did  I  know  what  the  ants  had  for  dinner  last 
Monday?  It  is  odd  that  I  should  have  known,  but 
I'll  tell  you  how  it  happened. 

I  was  sitting  under  a  big  pine  tree,  high  up  on  a  hill- 
side. The  hillside  was  more  than  seven  thousand 
feet  above  the  sea,  and  that  is  higher  than  many  moun- 
tains which  people  travel  hundreds  of  miles  to  look  at. 
But  this  hillside  was  in  Colorado,  so  there  was  nothing 
wonderful  in  being  up  so  high. 

I  had  been  watching  the  great  mountains  with  snow 
on  them,  and  the  great  forests  of  pine  trees  —  miles 
and  miles  of  them  —  so  close  together  that  it  looks 
as  if  you  could  lie  down  on  their  tops  and  not  fall 
through;  and  my  eyes  were  tired  with  looking  at 
such  great,  grand  things,  so  many  miles  off. 

So  I  looked  down  on  the  ground  where  I  was  sitting, 
and  watched  the  ants  which  were  running  about 
everywhere,  as  busy  and  restless  as  if  they  had  the 
whole  world  on  their  shoulders. 


-*  132  &- 

Suddenly  I  saw  a  tiny  caterpillar,  which  seemed 
to  be  bounding  along  in  a  very  strange  way.  In  a 
second  more  I  saw  an  ant  seize  hold  of  him  and  begin 
to  drag  him  off. 

The  caterpillar  was  three  times  as  long  as  the  ant, 
and  his  body  was  more  than  twice  as  large  round  as 
the  biggest  part  of  the  ant's  body. 

"Ho!  ho!  Mr.  Ant,"  said  I,  "  you  needn't  think 
you're  going  to  be  strong  enough  to  drag  that  fellow 
very  far." 

Why,  it  was  about  the  same  thing  as  if  you  or  I 
should  drag  off  a  calf,  which  was  kicking  and  struggling 
all  the  time;  only  that  the  calf  hasn't  half  so  many 
legs  to  catch  hold  of  things  with  as  the  caterpillar 
had. 

Poor  caterpillar!  how  he  did  try  to  get  away! 
But  the  ant  never  gave  him  a  second's  time  to  take  a 
good  grip  of  anything;  and  he  was  cunning  enough, 
too,  to  drag  him  on  his  side,  so  that  he  couldn't  use 
his  legs  very  well. 

Up  and  down,  and  under  and  over  stones  and  sticks; 


-»6  133  S**- 

in  and  out  of  tufts  of  grass;  up  to  the  very  top  of  the 
tallest  blades,  and  then  down  again;  over  gravel  and 
sand,  and  across  bridges  of  pine  needles  from  stone 
to  stone ;  backward  all  the  way  ran  that  ant,  dragging 
the  caterpillar  after  him. 

I  watched  him  very  closely,  thinking,  of  course, 
he  must  be  going  toward  his  house.  Presently  he 
darted  up  the  trunk  of  a  pine  tree. 

"  Dear  me!  "  said  I,  "  ants  don't  live  in  trees!  What 
does  this  mean?  " 

The  bark  of  the  tree  was  all  broken  and  jagged,  and 
full  of  seams  twenty  times  as  deep  as  the  height  of  the 
ant's  body.  But  he  didn't  mind;  down  one  side  and 
up  the  other  he  went. 

They  must  have  been  awful  chasms  to  him,  and  yet 
he  never  once  stopped  or  went  a  bit  slower.  I  had 
to  watch  the  ant  very  closely,  not  to  lose  sight  of  him 
altogether. 

I  began  to  think  that  he  was  merely  trying  to  kill 
the  caterpillar;  that,  perhaps,  he  didn't  mean  to  eat 
him,  after  all.  How  did  I  know  but  some  ants  might 


-fl  134 


hunt  caterpillars,  just  as  some  men  hunt  deer,  for 
fun,  and  not  at  all  because  they  need  food? 

If  I  had  been  sure  of  this,  I  would  have  spoiled  Mr. 
Ant's  sport  for  him  very  soon,  you  may  be  sure,  and 


set  the  poor  caterpillar  free.  But  I  never  heard  of  an 
ant's  being  cruel;  and  if  it  were  really  for  dinner 
for  his  family  that  he  was  working  so  hard,  I  thought 
he  ought  to  be  helped,  and  not  hindered. 

Just  then  I  heard  a  sharp  cry  overhead.     I  looked 
up,  and  there  was  an  enormous  hawk,  sailing  round  in 


-*  135  e**- 

circles,  with  two  small  birds  flying  after  him.  They 
were  pouncing  down  on  his  head,  and  then  darting 
away,  and  all  the  time  making  shrill  cries  of  fright  and 
hatred. 

I  knew  very  well  what  that  meant.  Mr.  Hawk 
was  also  out  trying  to  do  some  marketing  for  his  dinner. 
He  had  his  eye  on  some  little  birds  in  their  nest,  and 
there  were  the  father  and  mother  birds  driving  him 
away. 

You  wouldn't  have  believed  that  two  such  little  birds 
could  drive  off  such  a  big  creature  as  the  hawk,  but 
they  did.  They  seemed  to  fairly  buzz  round  his  head 
just  as  flies  buzz  round  a  horse's  head. 

At  last  he  gave  up  the  quest  and  flew  off  so  far 
that  he  vanished  in  the  blue  sky,  and  the  little  birds 
came  skimming  home  again  into  the  forest. 

"  Well,  well/7  said  I,  "  the  little  people  are  stronger 
than  the  big  ones,  after  all!  Where  has  my  ant 
gone?  " 

Sure  enough!  It  hadn't  been  two  minutes  that  I 
had  been  watching  the  hawk  and  the  birds,  but  in  that 


-«  136   8*- 

two  minutes  the  ant  and  the  caterpillar  had  disappeared. 
At  last  I  found  them,  —  where  do  you  think?  In  a 
fold  of  my  coat,  on  which  I  was  sitting! 

The  ant  was  running  round  and  round  the  cater- 
pillar. I  shook  the  fold  out,  and  as  soon  as  the  cloth 
lay  straight  and  smooth,  the  ant  fastened  his  nippers 
into  his  prey  and  started  off  as  fast  as  ever. 

I  suppose  if  I  could  have  seen  his  face,  and  had 
understood  the  language  of  ants'  features,  I  should 
have  seen  plainly  written  there,  "  Dear  me,  what  sort 
of  a  country  was  that  I  tumbled  into?  " 

By  this  time  the  caterpillar  had  had  the  breath  pretty 
well  knocked  out  of  his  body,  and  was  so  limp  and  help- 
less that  the  ant  was  not  afraid  of  his  getting  away 
from  him.  So  he  stopped  now  and  then  to  rest. 

Sometimes  he  would  spring  on  the  caterpillar's  back, 
and  stretch  himself  out  there;  sometimes  he  would 
stand  still  on  one  side  and  look  at  him  sharply,  keeping 
one  nipper  on  his  head. 

All  the  time  he  was  working  steadily  in  one  direction ; 
he  was  headed  for  home  I  felt  certain. 


-fl  137  &- 

It  astonished  me  very  much,  at  first,  that  none  of  the 
ants  he  met  took  any  notice  of  him;  they  all  went  on 
their  own  way,  and  never  took  so  much  as  a  sniff 
at  the  caterpillar. 

But  pretty  soon  I  said  to  myself,  "  You  stupid 
woman,  not  to  suppose  that  ants  can  be  as  well  be- 
haved as  people!  When  you  passed  Mr.  Jones  yester- 
day, you  didn't  peep  into  his  market-basket,  nor 
touch  the  cabbage  he  had  under  his  arm." 

Presently  the  ant  dropped  the  caterpillar,  and  ran 
on  a  few  steps  —  I  mean  inches  —  to  meet  another 
ant  who  was  coming  towards  him.  They  put  their 
heads  close  together  for  a  second. 

I  could  not  hear  what  they  said,  but  I  could  easily 
imagine,  for  they  both  ran  quickly  back  to  the  cater- 
pillar, and  one  took  him  by  the  head  and  the  other  by 
the  tail,  and  then  they  lugged  him  along  finely.  It 
was  only  a  few  steps,  however,  to  the  ant's  house; 
that  was  the  reason  he  happened  to  meet  this  friend 
just  coming  out. 

The  door  was  a  round  hole  in  the  ground,  about  as 


-»S  138  &- 

big  as  my  little  finger.  Several  ants  were  standing 
in  the  doorway,  watching  these  two  come  up  with 
the  caterpillar.  They  all  took  hold  as  soon  as  the 
caterpillar  was  on  the  doorstep,  and  almost  before 
I  knew  he  was  there,  they  had  tumbled  him  down, 
heels  over  head,  into  the  ground,  and  that  was  the 
last  I  saw  of  him. 

The  oddest  thing  was,  how  the  ants  came  running 
home  from  all  directions.  I  don't  believe  there  was 
any  dinner  bell  rung,  though  there  might  have  been 
one  too  fine  for  my  ears  to  hear;  but  in  a  minute,  I 
counted  thirty-three  ants  running  down  that  hole. 
I  fancied  they  looked  as  hungry  as  wolves. 

I  had  a  great  mind  to  dig  down  into  the  hole  with  a 
stick,  and  see  what  had  become  of  the  caterpillar. 
But  I  thought  it  wasn't  quite  fair  to  take  the  roof  off 
a  man's  house  to  find  out  how  he  cooks  his  beef  for 
dinner;  so  I  sat  still  and  wondered  whether  they 
would  eat  him  all  up  or  whether  they  would  leave  any 
for  Tuesday;  then  I  went  home  to  my  own  dinner. 

—  Helen  Hunt  Jackson. 


139 


MY    ANT'S    COW 

My  Ant  lives  in  the  country  and  keeps  a  cow.  I 
am  ashamed  to  say  that,  although  I  have  always  known 
she  was  a  most  interesting  person,  I  never  went  to  see 
her  until  last  week. 

I  am  afraid  I  should  not  have  gone  then,  if  I  had 
not  found  an  account  of  her,  and  her  house,  and  her 
cow,  in  a  book  which  I  was  reading. 

"  Dear  me,"  said  I,  "  and  there  she  has  been  living 
so  near  me  all  this  time,  and  I  never  have  been  to  call 
on  her." 

To  tell  the  truth,  it  was  much  worse  than  that; 
I  had  often  met  her  in  the  street,  and  had  taken  such 
a  dislike  to  her  looks  that  I  always  brushed  by  as 
quickly  as  possible  without  speaking  to  her. 

I  had  great  difficulty  in  finding  her  house,  though  it 
is  quite  large.  She  belongs  to  a  very  peculiar  family; 
they  prefer  to  live  in  the  dark;  so  they  have  no  win- 
dows in  their  houses,  only  doors;  and  the  doors  are 
nothing  but  holes  in  the  roof. 


-»6  140  S<~ 

The  houses  are  built  in  the  shape  of  a  mound,  and 
are  not  more  than  ten  inches  high.  They  are  built 
out  of  old  bits  of  wood,  dead  leaves,  straw,  old  bones; 
in  short,  every  sort  of  old  thing  that  they  find,  they 
stick  in  the  walls  of  their  houses.  Their  best  rooms 
are  all  down  cellar;  and  dark  enough  they  must  be 
on  a  rainy  day,  when  the  doors  are  always  kept  shut 
tight. 

But  I  ought  to  have  told  you  about  my  Ant  herself 
before  I  told  you  about  her  house.  When  you  hear 
what  an  odd  person  she  is,  you  will  not  be  surprised 
that  she  lives  in  such  an  outlandish  house. 

To  begin  with,  I  must  tell  you  that  she  belongs  to  a 
family  that  never  does  any  work. 

You'd  never  suppose  so,  to  see  her.  I  really  think 
she  is  the  queerest-looking  creature  I  ever  met. 

In  the  first  place,  her  skin  is  of  a  dark  brown  color, 
darker  than  an  Indian's,  and  she  has  six  legs.  Of 
course  she  can  walk  three  times  as  fast  as  if  she  had 
only  two,  —  but  I  would  rather  go  slower  and  be  more 
like  other  people. 


-*  141  &- 

She  has  frightful  jaws,  with  which  she  does  all  sorts 
of  things  besides  eating.  She  uses  them  for  scissors, 
tweezers,  pickaxes,  knife  and  fork,  and  in  case  of  a 
battle,  for  swords. 


Then  she  has  growing  out  of  the  front  part  of  her 
head  two  long  slender  horns,  which  she  keeps  moving 
about  all  the  time,  and  with  which  she  touches  every- 
thing she  wishes  to  understand. 

The  first  thing  she  does,  when  she  meets  you,  is  to 


-H8  142  &- 

bend  both  these  horns  straight  towards  you,  and  feel 
of  you.  It  is  quite  disagreeable,  —  almost  as  bad 
as  shaking  hands  with  strangers. 

My  Ant's  name  is  Fornica  Rufa.  If  I  knew  her 
better  I  should  call  her  Ant  Ru,  for  short.  But  I  do 
not  expect  ever  to  know  her  very  well.  She  evidently 
does  not  like  to  be  intimate  with  anybody  but  her  own 
family;  and  I  am  not  surprised,  for  I  was  never  in  any 
house  so  overrun  with  people  as  hers  is.  I  wondered 
how  they  knew  themselves  apart. 

When  I  went  to  see  her  last  week  I  found  her  just 
going  out,  and  I  thought  perhaps  that  was  one  reason 
that  she  didn't  take  any  more  notice  of  me. 

"  How  do  you  do,  Ant?  "  said  I.  "  I  am  spending 
the  summer  near  by,  and  thought  I  would  like  to  be- 
come acquainted  with  you.  I  hear  you  have  a  very 
curious  cow,  and  I  have  a  great  desire  to  see  it." 

"Humph!"  said  she,  and  snapped  her  horns  up 
and  down,  as  she  always  does  when  she  is  displeased,  I 

A 

find. 

"  I  hope  it  will  not  give  you  any  trouble  to  show  her 


-*  143  8<~ 

to  me.  You  must  be  very  proud  of  having  such  a  fine 
cow.  Perhaps  you  are  on  the  way  to  milking  now, 
and  if  so  I  should  be  most  happy  to  go  with  you." 

"  Humph!"  said  my  Ant  again.  At  least  I  think 
that  was  what  she  said.  It  looked  like  it,  but  I  can't 
say  that  I  heard  any  sound. 

But  she  turned  short  on  her  heels  (I  suppose  she  has 
heels),  and  plunged  into  the  woods  at  the  right,  stopping 
and  looking  back  at  me  as  if  she  expected  me  to  follow. 
So  I  stepped  along  after  her  as  fast  as  I  could,  and  said, 
"  Thank  you;  I  suppose  this  is  the  way  to  the  pasture." 

My  Ant  said  nothing,  but  went  ahead,  snapping  her 
horns  furiously. 

"  Oh,  well,"  thought  I  to  myself,  "  you  are  an 
uncivil  Ant.  Even  if  I  have  come  simply  out  of 
curiosity,  you  might  be  a  little  more  polite  in  your 
own  house,  or  at  least  on  your  own  grounds,  which 
is  the  same  thing.  I  shaVt  speak  to  you  again." 

That's  about  all  the  conversation  I  have  ever  had 
with  my  Ant.  But  she  took  me  to  the  pasture,  and 
I  saw  her  cow. 


-«  144  SH- 

I  am  almost  afraid  to  tell  you  where  the  pasture 
was,  and  what  the  cow  was;  but  if  you  don't  believe 
me,  you  can  look  in  books  written  about  such  things, 
and  they  will  prove  to  you  that  every  word  I  say  is 
true. 

The  pasture  was  the  stalk  of  a  green  brier;  and 
there  stood,  not  only  my  Ant's  cow,  but  as  many 
as  five  hundred  others,  all  feeding  away  upon  it.  You 
have  seen  millions  of  them  in  your  lives,  for  you  must 
know  that  they  are  nothing  but  little  green  plant-lice, 
like  those  that  we  find  on  our  rosebushes,  and  that 
we  try  in  every  possible  way  to  get  rid  of. 

Who  would  ever  suppose  there  could  be  anything 
for  which  these  little  green  plant-lice  could  serve 
as  cows!  I  assure  you  it  is  true,  and  if  you  live  in  the 
country  you  can  see  it  for  yourself;  but  you  will  have 
to  look  through  a  magnifying  glass  to  see  them  milked. 

Think  of  looking  through  a  magnifying  glass  at 
anybody's  cow!  I  looked  at  my  Ant's  for  an  hour, 
and  it  seemed  to  me  I  hardly  winked,  I  was  so  much 
interested  in  the  curious  sight. 


-•8  145  8*- 

Its  skin  was  smooth  as  satin  and  of  a  most  beautiful 
light  green  color.  It  had  six  legs,  and  little  hooks 
at  the  end,  instead  of  hoofs.  The  oddest  thing  of  all 
was  that  the  horns  were  not  on  its  head,  but  at  the 
other  end  of  its  body,  where  the  tail  would  have  been 
if  it  had  had  a  tail  like  any  other  cow. 

The  horns  were  hollow  tubes,  and  it  is  out  of  them 
that  the  milk  comes,  a  drop  at  a  time.  The  milk  is 
meant  for  the  little  plant-lice  to  drink  before  they 
are  old  enough  to  hook  their  six  legs  on  to  stalks  and 
leaves,  and  feed  on  sap. 

But  I  think  that  in  any  place  where  there  are  many 
of  my  Ant's  race,  the  little  plant-lice  must  fare  badly, 
for  the  Ants  are  so  fond  of  this  milk  that  sometimes 
they  carry  off  whole  herds  of  the  plant-lice  and  shut 
them  up  in  chambers  in  their  houses.  There  they 
feed  them  as  we  do  cows  in  barns,  and  go  and  milk 
them  whenever  they  please. 

"  Oh,  dear  Ant/7  said  I  to  my  Ant,  "  do  pray  milk 
your  cow!  I  have  such  a  desire  to  see  how  you  do  it.7' 

She  did  not  appear  to  understand  me,  and  I  dare 


-»8    146    BH- 

say  if  she  had  she  would  not  have  done  it  any  sooner. 
But  presently  I  saw  her  go  up  behind  her  cow,  and 
begin  to  tap  her  gently  on  her  back,  just  at  the  place 
where  the  horns  grew  out. 

The  cow  did  not  look  round  nor  stop  eating,  but  in  a 
moment  out  came  a  tiny  drop  of  liquid  from  the  tip 
of  each  tube.  My  Ant  picked  it  up  with  her  wonderful 
horns  and  whisked  it  into  her  mouth  as  quickly  as 
you  would  a  sugarplum. 

Then  she  went  on  to  the  next  cow  and  milked  that 
in  the  same  manner,  and  then  to  a  third  one.  She 
took  only  two  drops  from  each  one.  Perhaps  that  is 
all  that  this  kind  of  a  cow  can  give  at  a  time. 

There  were  several  of  her  friends  there  at  the  same 
time  doing  their  milking;  and  I  could  not  help  thinking 
how  easy  it  would  be  for  the  great  herd  of  cows  to  kill 
my  Ant  and  all  her  race,  if  they  chose.  But  it  is 
thought  by  wise  people  who  have  studied  these  won- 
derful things  that  the  cows  are  fond  of  being  milked 
in  this  way,  and  would  be  sorry  to  be  left  alone  by 
themselves. 


-*  147  8*- 

After  my  Ant  had  finished  her  supper,  she  stood 
still  watching  the  cows  for  some  time.  I  thought  per- 
haps she  would  be  in  a  better  humor  after  having 
had  so  much  to  eat,  and  might  possibly  feel  like  talking 
with  me.  But  she  never  once  opened  her  mouth,  though 
I  sat  there  an  hour  and  a  half. 

At  last  it  began  to  grow  dark,  and  as  I  had  quite  a 
long  walk  to  take,  I  knew  I  must  go,  or  I  should  not 
get  home  in  time  for  my  own  supper  of  milk. 

"  Good-night,  Ant,"  said  I.  "I  have  had  a  charming 
visit.  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  showing 
me  your  cow.  I  think  she  is  the  most  wonderful 
creature  I  ever  saw.  I  should  be  very  happy  to  see 
you  at  my  house." 

"  Humph!  "  said  my  Ant. 

—  Helen  Hunt  Jackson. 


-•8  148  8<- 


COLORADO    SNOW-BIRDS 

I'll  tell  you  how  the  snow-birds  come, 

Here  in  our  Winter  days; 
They  make  me  think  of  chickens, 

With  their  cunning  little  ways. 


We  go  to  bed  at  night,  and  leave 
The  ground  all  bare  and  brown, 

And  not  a  single  snow-bird 
To  be  seen  in  all  the  town. 


-*  149  &- 

But  when  we  wake  at  morning 

The  ground  with  snow  is  white, 
And  with  the  snow,  the  snow-birds 

Must  have  travelled  all  the  night; 

For  the  streets  and  yards  are  full  of  them, 

The  dainty  little  things, 
With  snow-white  breasts,  and  soft  brown  heads, 

And  speckled  russet  wings. 

Not  here  and  there  a  snow-bird, 

As  we  see  them  at  the  East, 
But  in  great  flocks,  like  grasshoppers, 

By  hundreds,  at  the  least, 

They  push  and  crowd  and  jostle, 

And  twitter  as  they  feed, 
And  hardly  lift  their  heads  up, 

For  fear  to  miss  a  seed. 

What  'tis  they  eat,  nobody  seems 

To  know  or  understand; 
The  seeds  are  much  too  fine  to  see, 

All  sifted  in  the  sand. 


-•8  150  8«- 

But  winds  last  Summer  scattered  them, 

All  thickly  on  these  plains; 
The  little  snow-birds  have  no  barns, 

But  God  protects  their  grains. 

•        •••••• 

Some  flocks  count  up  to  thousands, 

I  know,  and  when  they  fly, 
Their  tiny  wings  make  rustle, 

As  if  a  wind  went  by. 

They  go  as  quickly  as  they  come, 

Go  in  a  night  or  day; 
Soon  as  the  snow  has  melted  off, 

The  darlings  fly  away, 

But  come  again,  again,  again, 

All  winter  with  each  snow; 
Brave  little  armies,  through  the  cold; 

Swift  back  and  forth  they  go. 

I  always  wondered  where  they  lived 
In  summer,  till  last  year 


-»8  151  3<*- 

I  stumbled  on  them  in  their  home, 
High  in  the  upper  air; 

'Way  up  among  the  clouds  it  was, 

A  many  thousand  feet, 
But  on  the  mountain-side  gay  flowers 

Were  blooming  fresh  and  sweet. 


Great  pine  trees'  swaying  branches 
Gave  cool  and  fragrant  shade; 

And  here,  we  found,  the  snow-birds 
Their  summer  home  had  made. 


-»6  152  &- 

"  Oh,  lucky  little  snow-birds!  " 
We  said,  "  to  know  so  well, 
In  summer  time  and  winter  time, 
Your  destined  place  to  dwell  — 

"  To  journey,  nothing  doubting, 

Down  to  the  barren  plains, 
Where  harvests  are  all  over, 
To  find  your  garnered  grains! 

"  Oh,  precious  little  snow-birds! 

If  we  were  half  as  wise, 
If  we  were  half  as  trusting 
To  the  Father  in  the  skies,  — 

"  He  would  feed  us,  though  the  harvests 

Had  ceased  throughout  the  land, 
And  hold  us,  all  our  lifetime, 
In  the  hollow  of  his  hand!  " 

—  Helen  Hunt  Jackson, 


-•8  153  8<~ 

THE  PETERKINS'  EXCURSION  AFTER  MAPLE 

SYRUP 

The  Peterkins  had  .decided  not  to  go  to  Egypt. 

Of  course  the  little  boys  were  very  much  disap- 
pointed, so  Mr.  Peterkin  said  that  he  would  take  them 
out  into  the  woods  to  get  some  maple  syrup  instead. 
But  it  was  almost  as  difficult  to  arrange  an  excursion 
for  maple  sugar  as  to  arrange  for  a  trip  to  Egypt. 

You  see,  sugar  can  not  be  made  until  it  is 
warm  enough  to  make  the  sap  run.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  must  be  cold  enough  for  snow,  as  you  can 
only  reach  the  woods  on  snow-sleds. 

Now,  if  there  were  sun  enough  for  the  sap  to  rise, 
it  would  melt  the  snow;  and  if  it  were  cold  enough  for 
sledding,  it  must  be  too  cold  for  the  syrup.  The  little 
boys,  however,  said  there  always  had  been  maple 
sugar  every  spring,  —  they  had  eaten  it;  why  shouldn't 
there  be  this  spring? 

Elizabeth  Eliza  said  that  this  was  probably  old  sugar 
they  had  eaten,  —  you  never  could  tell  in  the  shops. 


-«  154  8*- 

Mrs.  Peterkin  thought  there  must  be  fresh  sugar 
once  in  a  while,  as  the  old  sugar  would  be  eaten  up. 
She  felt  the  same  about  chickens.  She  never  could 
understand  why  there  were  only  the  old,  tough  ones 
in  the  market,  when  there  were  certainly  fresh  young 
broods  to  be  seen  around  the  farmhouses  every 
year. 

She  supposed  the  market-men  had  begun  with  the 
old,  tough  fowls,  and  so  they  had  to  go  on  so.  She 
wished  they  had  begun  the  other  way;  and  she  had 
done  her  best  to  have  the  family  eat  up  the  old  fowls, 
hoping  they  might,  some  day,  get  down  to  the  young 
ones. 

As  to  the  weather,  she  suggested  they  should  go  to 
Grandfather's  the  day  before.  But  how  can  you  go 
the  day  before,  when  you  don't  know  the  day? 

All  were  much  delighted,  therefore,  when  Hiram 
appeared  with  the  wood-sled,  one  evening,  to  take 
them,  as  early  as  possible  the  next  day,  to  their  grand- 
father's. 

He  said  that  the  sap  had  started,  the  kettles  had  been 


155 


on  some  time,  there  had  been  a  slight  snow  for  sleigh- 
ing, and  to-morrow  promised  to  be  a  fine  day. 

It  was  decided  that  he  should  take  the  little  boys  and 


Elizabeth  Eliza  in  the  wood-sled;  the  others  would 
follow  later,  in  the  carryall. 

Mrs.  Peterkin  thought  it  would  be  safer  to  have 
some  of  the  party  go  on  wheels,  in  case  of  a  thaw  the 
next  day. 

A  brilliant  sun  awoke  them  in  the  morning.  The 
wood-sled  was  filled  with  hay,  to  make  it  warm  and 


-*S  156  8<~ 

comfortable,  and  an  armchair  was  tied  in  for  Elizabeth 
Eliza. 

The  little  boys  put  on  their  India-rubber  boots  and 
their  red  mittens.  Elizabeth  Eliza  took  a  shawl,  a 
hot  brick,  and  a  big  bag  of  cookies,  and  they  started  off. 

In  passing  the  school-house  the  little  boys  saw  five 
of  their  friends,  who  had  reached  the  school  door  a  full 
hour  before  the  time.  They  asked  these  five  boys  to 
go  with  them,  but  Elizabeth  Eliza  thought  they  ought 
to  inquire  if  their  parents  would  be  willing  they  should 
go,  as  they  all  expected  to  spend  the  night  at  Grand- 
father's. 

Hiram  thought  it  would  take  too  much  time  to  ask 
all  the  parents;  if  the  sun  kept  on  shining  so  brightly, 
the  snow  would  be  gone  before  they  would  reach  the 
woods. 

But  the  little  boys  said  that  most  of  these  boys  lived 
in  a  row,  and  Elizabeth  Eliza  felt  she  ought  not  to  take 
the  boys  away  for  all  night  without  asking  their 
parents. 

At  each  place  they  were  obliged  to  stop  for  tippets 


-»8  157  &- 

and  great-coats  and  India-rubber  boots  for  the  little 
boys.  At  the  Harrimans',  too,  the  Harriman  girls 
insisted  on  dressing  up  the  wood-sled  with  evergreens, 
and  made  one  of  the  boys  bring  the  Christmas  tree 
that  was  leaning  up  against  the  barn,  to  set  it  up  in 
the  back  of  the  sled,  over  Elizabeth  Eliza. 

All  this  took  a  good  deal  of  time;  and  when  they 
reached  the  highroad  again,  the  snow  was  indeed  fast 
melting.  Elizabeth  Eliza  thought  they  ought  to  turn 
back,  but  Hiram  said  they  would  find  the  sleighing 
better  farther  up  among  the  hills. 

The  armchair  joggled  about  a  good  deal,  and  the 
Christmas  tree  creaked  and  swayed,  and  Hiram  was 
obliged  to  stop  once  in  a  while  and  tie  in  the  chair  and 
the  tree  more  firmly. 

But  the  warm  sun  was  very  pleasant,  the  eight  little 
boys  were  very  lively,  and  the  sleigh  bells  jingled  gaily 
as  they  went  on. 

It  was  so  late  when  they  reached  the  wood-road 
that  Hiram  decided  they  had  better  not  go  up  the 
hill  to  their  grandfather's,  but  turn  off  into  the  woods. 


*8  158  8<- 

"  Your  grandfather  will  be  up  at  the  sugar  camp 
by  this  time,"  he  declared. 

Elizabeth  Eliza  was  afraid  the  carryall  would  miss 
them,  and  thought  they  had  better  wait.  Hiram 
did  not  like  to  wait  longer,  and  said  that  one  or  two 
of  the  little  boys  could  stop  to  show  the  way. 

But  it  was  so  difficult  to  decide  which  little  boys 
should  stay  that  he  gave  it  up.  So  he  explained  that 
there  was  a  lunch  hidden  somewhere  in  the  straw; 
and  the  little  boys  thought  this  was  a  good  time  to  eat 
it,  so  they  decided  to  stop  in  the  sun  at  the  corner  of 
the  road. 

Elizabeth  Eliza  felt  a  little  jounced  in  the  armchair, 
and  was  glad  of  a  rest;  and  the  boys  soon  discovered 
a  good  lunch,  —  just  what  might  have  been  expected 
from  Grandfather's,  —  apple  pie  and  doughnuts,  and 
plenty  of  them!  "  It  is  lucky  we  brought  so  many 
little  boys!  "  they  exclaimed. 

Hiram,  however,  began  to  grow  impatient.  "  There'll 
be  no  snow  left,"  he  exclaimed,  "  and  no  afternoon  for 
the  syrup!" 


159 


But  far  in  the  distance  the  Peterkin  carryall  was 
seen  slowly  approaching  through  the  snow,  Solomon 
John  waving  a  red  handkerchief.  The  little  boys 
waved  back,  and  Hiram  turned  the  sled  into  the  wood- 


road,  but  he  drove  slowly,  as  Elizabeth  Eliza  still 
feared  that  by  some  accident  the  family  might  miss 
them. 

It  was  difficult  for  the  carryall  to  follow  in  the  deep 
but  soft  snow,  in  among  the  trunks  of  the  trees  and 
over  piles  of  leaves  hidden  in  the  snow. 


-»8  160  8«- 

At  last  they  reached  the  edge  of  a  meadow.  On 
the  high  bank  above  it  stood  a  row  of  maples,  and 
back  of  which  was  a  little  shanty  with  smoke  coming 
out  of  its  chimney.  The  little  boys  screamed  with 
delight,  but  there  was  no  reply.  Nobody  there! 

"  The  folks  all  gone!  "  exclaimed  Hiram;  "  then  we 
must  be  late."  And  he  proceeded  to  pull  out  a  large 
silver  watch  from  a  side  pocket.  It  was  so  large  that 
he  seldom  was  at  the  pains  to  pull  it  out,  as  it  took 
time ;  but  when  he  had  succeeded  at  last,  and  looked  at 
it,  he  started. 

"  Late,  indeed!  It  is  four  o'clock,  and  we  were  to 
have  been  here  by  eleven;  they  have  given  you 
up." 

The  little  boys  wanted  to  force  in  the  door;  but 
Hiram  said  it  was  no  use, --they  wouldn't  under- 
stand what  to  do,  and  he  should  have  to  see  to  the 
horses,  —  and  it  was  too  late,  and  very  likely  the  men 
had  carried  off  all  the  syrup. 

But  he  thought  a  minute,  as  they  all  stood  in  silence 
and  gloom;  and  then  he  guessed  they  might  find  some 


-»g  161  8«- 

sugar  at  Deacon  Spear's,  close  by,  on  the  back  road,  and 
that  would  be  better  than  nothing. 

Mrs.  Peterkin  was  pretty  cold,  and  glad  not  to  wait 
in  the  darkening  wood;  so  the  eight  little  boys  walked 
through  the  wood-path,  Hiram  leading  the  way;  and 
slowly  the  carryall  followed. 

They  reached  Deacon  Spear's  at  length;  but  only 
Mrs.  Spear  was  at  home.  She  was  very  deaf,  but  could 
explain  that  the  family  had  taken  all  their  syrup  to 
the  sugar  festival. 

"  We  might  go  to  the  festival,"  exclaimed  the  boys. 

"  It  would  be  very  well/7  said  Mrs.  Peterkin,  "  to 
eat  our  fresh  syrup  there." 

But  Mrs.  Spear  could  not  tell  where  the  festival  was 
to  be,  as  she  had  not  heard;  perhaps  they  might  know 
at  Squire  Ramsay's. 

Squire  Ramsay's  was  on  their  way  to  Grandfather's, 
so  they  stopped  there.  They  were  told  that  the 
"Squire's  folks"  had  all  gone  with  their  syrup  to  the 
festival.  The  man  who  was  chopping  wood  did  not 
know  where  the  festival  was  to  be. 


-18  162  9*- 

"  Theyll  know  at  your  grandfather's,"  said  Mrs. 
Peterkin,  from  the  carryall. 

"Yes,  go  on  to  your  grandfather's,"  advised  Mr. 
Peterkin,  "for  I  think  I  felt  a  drop  of  rain."  So 
they  made  the  best  of  their  way  to  Grandfather's. 

At  the  moment  they  reached  the  door  of  the  house, 
a  party  of  young  people  whom  Elizabeth  Eliza  knew 
came  by  in  sleighs.  She  had  met  them  all  when  visiting 
at  her  grandfather's. 

"  Come  along  with  us,"  they  shouted;  "  we  are  all 
going  down  to  the  sugar  festival." 

"  That  is  what  we  have  come  for,"  said  Mr.  Peterkin. 

"  Where  is  it?  "  asked  Solomon  John. 

"  It  is  down  your  way,"  was  the  reply. 

"  It  is  in  your  own  New  Hall,"  said  another.  "  We 
have  sent  down  all  our  syrup.  The  Spears  and  Ramsay s 
and  Doolittles  have  gone  on  with  theirs.  No  time  to 
stop;  there's  good  sleighing  on  the  old  road." 

Hiram  said  he  could  take  them  back  with  the  wood- 
sled,  when  he  heard  there  was  sleighing  on  the  old  road. 
So  it  was  decided  that  the  whole  party  should  go  in 


-»6  163  &- 

the  wood-sled,   with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Peterkin, 
who  would  follow  on  with  the  carryall. 

Mrs.  Peterkin  would  take  the  armchair,  and  cushions 
were  put  in  for  Elizabeth  Eliza,  and  more  apple  pie 
for  all.  No  more  drops  of  rain  appeared,  though  the 
clouds  were  thickening  over  the  setting  sun. 

"  All  the  way  back  again/'  sighed  Mrs.  Peterkin, 
"  when  we  might  have  stayed  at  home  all  day,  and  gone 
quietly  out  to  the  New  Hall!  "  But  the  little  boys 
thought  the  sledding  was  great  fun,  —  and  the 
apple  pie !  "  And  we  did  see  the  kettle  through  the 
cracks  of  the  shanty  I" 

—  Lucretia  P.  Hale. 


164 


THE    GRASS 

The  grass  so  little  has  to  do,  — 
A  sphere  of  simple  green, 

With  only  butterflies  to  brood, 
And  bees  to  entertain, 


And  stir  all  day  to  pretty  tunes 
The  breezes  fetch  along, 

And  hold  the  sunshine  in  its  lap, 
And  bow  to  everything; 


-»8  165  s«- 

And  thread  the  dews  all  night,  like  pearls, 

And  make  itself  so  fine,  — 
A  duchess  were  top  common 

For  such  a  noticing. 

And  even  when  it  dies,  to  pass 

In  odors  so  divine, 
As  lowly  spices  gone  to  sleep, 

Or  amulets  of  pine. 

And  then  to  dwell  in  sovereign  barns, 

And  dream  the  days  away,  — 
The  grass  so  little  has  to  do, 

I  wish  I  were  the  hay. 

—  Emily  Dickinson. 

SUNSET 

Where  ships  of  purple  gently  toss 

On  seas  of  daffodil, 
Fantastic  sailors  mingle, 

And  then  —  the  wharf  is  still. 

-Emily  Dickinson. 


166 


THE   BABY   SQUIRRELS 

The  four  baby  squirrels  were  tired  of  staying  in  their 
soft  nest  in  the  hollow  tree.  They  wanted  to  find  out 
what  was  going  on  in  the  world  outside. 

As  they  cuddled  together  in  the  shadowy  hole  they 
could  hear  the  queerest  sounds.  They  cocked  their 
heads  curiously  at  the  rustling  and  whispering  of  the 
wind  among  the  leaves.  They  heard  chirping  and  sing- 
ing, and  a  silvery  tinkle,  tinkle  from  the  brook. 

Once  a  bee  flew  buzzing  right  over  their  heads,  and 
made  them  clutch  one  another  in  terror. 

One  morning,  when  the  old  mother  squirrel  was 
away  hunting  for  birds'  eggs  to  eat,  the  smallest 
baby  crept  to  the  mouth  of  the  hole  and  peeped  out 
with  his  round  bright  eyes. 

All  around  and  above  him  there  were  wonderful 
green  things  flickering  and  fluttering.  Twinkles  of 
sunlight  danced  through  the  leaves  and  dazzled  him. 
Something  soft  and  cool  blew  back  the  new  bristles 
on  his  lips  and  ruffled  his  satiny  red  fur. 


-»8  167  8<" 

He  was  so  much  interested  that  he  sat  there,  staring 
and  staring,  till  the  other  little  ones  began  to  squeak 
and  scold  him  for  shutting  out  the  light. 

After  he  crept  down  again  to  the  nest  the  others 


climbed  up,  one  by  one,  and  looked  out.  They  blinked 
and  winked  at  each  wonderful  sight;  they  sniffed  the 
strange  odors,  and  twitched  their  eager  little  heads 
at  every  new  sound. 

The  scream  of  a  blue  jay  in  the  tree-top  above  them 
sent  them  scampering  inside  again,   to  cuddle  close 


-»8  168  §<*- 

together  in  the  darkest  corner.  It  was  fun  to  see 
something  new  and  exciting;  even  if  it  did  make  them 
shiver  all  over. 

Soon  the  mother  squirrel  came  springing  from  branch 
to  branch  to  reach  the  hollow. 

How  the  babies  squeaked  and  chattered  in  wel- 
come! Very  likely  they  told  her  about  the  wonderful 
sights  and  sounds  in  the  strange  world  outside  the 
hole. 

The  smallest  one  clasped  his  fore  paws  around  her 
neck,  and  coaxed  her  to  let  them  all  go  out  to  find 
more  interesting  things.  It  was  stupid  there  in  the 
dark  nest,  with  nothing  to  watch  except  the  patch  of 
light  across  the  opening  above  them. 

The  old  squirrel  knew  that  the  little  ones  were  not 
strong  enough  yet  to  leave  the  nest. 

To  be  sure,  they  had  grown  and  changed  very  much 
since  the  first  days.  Then  they  had  been  ugly  little 
creatures,  like  tiny  pug  dogs,  with  big  heads,  no  fur, 
and  their  eyes  tight  shut. 

Now  they  were  half  as  big  as  she  was  herself.    Their 


-»8  169  &- 

eyes  were  like  jewels,  and  their  red  fur  was  smooth  as 
satin. 

But  their  tails,  with  only  fringes  of  hair  along  the 
sides,  were  not  nearly  so  fluffy  as  the  mother's.  Her 
tail  was  long  and  plumy.  It  curved  so  gracefully 
over  her  back  that  she  seemed  to  be  sitting  in  its 
shadow.  One  name  of  the  squirrel  is  "  shadow-tail." 

For  a  few  weeks  longer  the  four  babies  scrambled 
about  the  doorway  and  looked  longingly  out  at  the 
wonderful  green  tree-world.  They  did  not  dare  to  step 
out  upon  the  slender  branches,  for  fear  of  falling  off. 

It  made  them  feel  dizzy  to  look  away  down  to  the 
ground  below.  They  did  not  know  how  to  cling  to  the 
limbs  with  their  feet  while  they  balanced  themselves 
with  their  tails. 

When  the  young  squirrels  were  almost  strong  enough 
to  learn  to  run  and  climb  in  the  tree,  the  mother  began 
to  build  another  home  higher  up  the  trunk.  The  old 
nest  was  growing  too  warm  for  comfort,  as  summer 
brought  the  long  sunny  hours. 

The  squirrel  father  was  not  there  to  help  his  mate. 


-«  17O  9«- 

The  mother  squirrel  thought  the  tree  belonged  to 
her,  and  that  she  needed  all  the  room  in  the  hollow 
for  her  little  ones.  She  chased  him  off  to  live  in  the 
woods  with  all  the  other  squirrel  fathers  till  the  babies 
were  big  enough  to  take  care  of  themselves. 

The  mother  squirrel  worked  on  the  new  nest  in  the 
early  morning.  She  bit  off  leafy  twigs  and  carried  them 
to  the  top  of  the  tree.  There,  where  two  branches 
forked,  she  packed  the  sticks  and  leaves  together 
in  a  loose  ball. 

Then  she  pushed  a  doorway  through,  at  one  side  or 
another,  just  as  she  happened  to  be  standing. 

This  was  not  such  a  neat  home  as  one  in  the  next 
tree.  That  other  mother  squirrel  built  her  new  nest 
of  strips  of  bark  tied  together  with  ribbons  of  soft 
fibre.  Over  the  doorway  she  hung  a  curtain  of  bark, 
and  lifted  it  up  carefully  whenever  she  went  inside. 

At  last  the  new  home  was  ready.  The  old  mother 
hurried  down  to  the  hollow  and  called  the  babies  to 
come  out  and  follow  her.  They  stepped  out,  one  after 
another,  just  as  carefully  as  they  could. 


-»B  171  9«- 

The  smallest  baby  came  last.  He  dug  his  claws  into 
the  bark  and  hung  on.  The  branch  seemed  so  narrow 
that  he  trembled  from  fear  of  falling. 

The  tree  swayed  in  the  wind.  The  branch  bounced 
up  and  down,  and  a  leaf  blew  in  his  face.  The  poor 
little  fellow  shut  his  eyes,  because  everything  seemed 
to  be  whirling  round  and  round. 

When  he  opened  his  eyes  again  he  saw  the  three 
other  little  ones  climbing  up  the  trunk  above  him. 
They  clutched  the  bark  with  their  claws,  and  moved 
forward,  one  paw  at  a  time. 

The  mother  was  running  on  ahead  of  them.  Every 
few  steps  she  turned  around  to  coax  them  on 
faster. 

Finally  they  reached  a  narrow  branch  which  led 
over  to  the  new  nest.  They  crawled  out  on  it,  lifting 
one  foot  and  then  setting  it  down  before  lifting  an- 
other. 

The  farther  they  crept  the  narrower  the  branch 
grew  under  them.  Their  little  paws  began  to  slip 
over  the  smoother  bark.  The  one  in  front  tried  to  turn 


172 


around,  but  he  was  afraid  of  •  falling.     So  they  all 
three  scrambled  backwards  to  the  safe  trunk. 
The  mother  ran  back  to  them,  and  chattered  and 


scolded.  Again  and  again  they  started  out  over  the 
branch,  and  then  went  scrambling  back. 

When  at  last  the  mother  had  coaxed  them  across  to 
the  nest  she  looked  around  for  the  smallest  baby. 
There  he  was,  away  down  at  the  door  of  the  old  nest. 

The  old  squirrel  was  tired  out.  Her  fur  was  ruffled 
and  her  ears  drooped.  She  ran  down  to  the  nest  and 


-•8  173  &- 

began  to  scold  the  little  fellow.    He  sat  up  and  put  his 
paws  around  her  to  let  him  stay  there. 

But  she  started  him  up  the  trunk  and  pushed  him 
along  to  the  branch.  Then  she  took  hold  of  him  by 
the  neck  and  carried  him  across  to  the  new 
home. 

After  that  the  little  ones  were  taken  out  every 
morning  to  practise  climbing.  Little  by  little  they 
learned  to  balance  themselves  on  the  branches.  Their 
tails  were  fluffy  enough  by  this  time  to  be  of  use  in 
balancing. 

First  to  one  side,  then  to  the  other,  each  baby  tilted 
his  tail  as  he  crept  along,  step  by  step.  Every  day 
they  could  move  a  little  faster.  Finally  they  were  able 
to  chase  one  another  up  and  down,  from  branch  to 
branch. 

They  went  running  around  the  trunks,  skipping  and 
leaping  from  twig  to  twig,  and  jumping  from  one  tree 
to  another,  even  through  the  air. 

Sometimes  one  or  another  missed  his  footing  after 
a  reckless  jump.  Often  he  caught  hold  of  a  branch 


-«  174  &- 

below  by  a  single  toe  and  lifted  himself  up  to  a  firmer 
foothold. 

Or,  if  there  was  no  branch  within  reach,  he  spread 
out  his  fur,  and  flattened  his  tail,  and  went  sailing  down 
to  the  ground,  almost  as  if  he  could  fly.  They  never 
seemed  to  get  hurt. 

The  little  squirrels  seemed  to  be  always  doing  some- 
thing. They  turned  somersaults  in  the  grass,  or 
swung  by  one  paw  from  the  tip  of  a  tough  branch. 

There  was  always  something  to  do  or  to  see.  Now 
they  chattered  at  a  blue  jay,  or  chased  a  toad  for  the 
fun  of  watching  him  hop.  Now  they  caught  beetles  or 
scolded  at  a  fox  slinking  along  through  the  woods. 
And  every  day  there  was  the  excitement  of  finding 
something  to  eat. 

The  babies  lived  on  milk  till  they  were  almost  as 
heavy  as  their  mother.  Then  she  began  to  feed  them 
with  fruit  and  buds  and  grubs,  which  she  first  chewed 
for  them. 

Like  the  beavers  and  the  hares  and  rabbits,  each 
had  four  chisel  teeth  in  the  front  of  its  mouth.  They 


-»6  175  9<*- 

needed  to  gnaw  hard  nuts  or  bark  every  day  to  keep 
these  teeth  from  growing  too  long. 

The  young  squirrels  were  three  months  old  in  July 
and  were  then  big  enough  to  take  care  of  themselves. 
Away  they  scampered  from  the  old  home*  tree  and 
found  new  homes  in  stumps  and  hollows.  The  smallest 
one  used  to  curl  up  in  an  old  robin's  nest  to  sleep  at 
night. 

All  day  long  they  were  as  busy  as  they  could  be. 
There  were  cones  to  be  gathered  from  the  evergreens. 
The  little  squirrels  ran  up  the  trees  in  a  hurry,  and, 
cutting  off  the  cones  with  their  sharp  teeth,  tossed  them 
over  their  shoulders  to  the  ground.  Every  few  minutes 
they  scurried  down  to  bury  the  cones  under  the  pine 
needles  for  the  winter. 

Sometimes  a  drop  of  sticky  pitch  from  the  cut 
stems  was  rubbed  against  their  fur.  That  made  them 
so  uncomfortable  that  they  had  to  stop  and  lick  it 
off. 

The  squirrels  loved  to  be  clean.  Ever  since  they 
were  tiny  babies,  with  their  new  red  fur,  they  always 


-»6  176  &- 

helped  one  another  with  washing  their  faces  and 
combing  their  tails  with  their  claws. 

They  were  careful  to  run  along  logs  over  a  muddy 
spot.  If  one  happened  to  get  wet  he  dried  himself 
with  his  fluffy  tail. 

When  they  were  tired  of  eating  seeds  and  twigs  they 
hunted  for  grubs.  Clinging  to  the  bark  of  a  dead  tree, 
they  listened  till  they  heard  something  gnawing 
beneath  the  surface.  Then,  tearing  off  the  bark  in 
ragged  pieces,  they  pounced  upon  the  flat  whitish 
grub  beneath  and  ate  him  up. 

But  the  best  time  of  all  came  in  the  autumn  when 
nuts  were  ripe.  Then  what  fun  the  little  squirrels 
had !  Early  every  morning  out  popped  the  little  heads 
from  the  hollow  stumps  and  logs.  The  big  round  eyes 
twinkled  eagerly  in  every  direction.  Then,  whisk! 
they  were  out,  with  a  bark  and  a  squeak! 

Scampering  to  the  top  of  a  tree,  each  one  took  a 
flying  leap  to  the  next  tree.  Up  and  down  they 
followed  the  squirrel-paths  through  the  woods  till  they 
reached  the  grove,  where  the  nuts  were  ripening. 


-»6  177  &- 

It  was  a  busy  place,  with  little  wings  fluttering  and 
little  feet  pattering,  and  yellow  leaves  drifting  down 
in  the  sunshine.  All  the  squirrels  scurried  to  and  fro, 
picking  one  nut  here,  and  another  there. 

They  sat  on  the  branches,  with  their  bushy  tails 
curving  over  their  backs,  and  held  the  nuts  in  their 
fore  paws  to  nibble.  The  smallest  baby  could  open 
the  hardest  walnut  and  clean  it  out  in  less  than  a 
minute. 

All  the  while  the  blue  jays  and  the  thrifty  chip- 
munks were  gathering  nuts  and  corn,  and  hiding  their 
stores  for  the  winter.  That  seemed  so  interesting  that 
the  squirrels  gathered  some,  too. 

Autumn  passed  away,  and  the  days  grew  colder. 
In  the  woods  the  leaves  were  all  fallen  and  the  branches 
were  stripped  bare  of  nuts. 

Every  morning  when  the  squirrels  poked  out  their 
heads  the  air  nipped  their  noses.  Frost  sparkled 
on  the  dead  grass.  The  chipmunks  had  crept  into 
their  holes  for  the  winter,  and  most  of  the  birds  had 
flown  away  south. 


-»6  178  8«- 

The  squirrels  were  not  quite  so  gay  now  as  in  the 
autumn  days,  when  they  danced  upon  the  branches 
and  whistled  and  chuckled  over  the  good  things  to 
eat  and  the  curious  sights  to  see.  They  slept  with 
their  warm  tails  wrapped  over  their  noses. 


They  still  ran  busily  through  the  tree-tops,  except 
when  snow  or  icy  rain  kept  them  shut  within  their 
holes.  They  ate  all  the  nuts  they  could  find,  and  dug 
up  the  buried  pine  cones.  They  climbed  the  hemlock 
trees  and  ate  the  seeds. 


^6  179  &•- 

Once  the  smallest  squirrel  happened  to  dig  up  a 
heap  of  nuts  from  between  two  stones  under  the  snow. 
He  could  not  remember  whether  he  had  hidden  them 
himself  or  not.  How  he  squealed  when  he  saw  them! 

Late  in  the  winter  the  squirrels  had  eaten  all  the 
nuts  and  cones  within  reach.  They  were  so  hungry 
on  many  a  day  that  they  tried  to  creep  into  a  chip- 
munk's hole  and  steal  his  store  of  food.  But  he  was 
smaller  than  they  were,  and  he  had  wisely  made  one  . 
bend  in  his  tunnel  too  small  for  them  to  pass. 

Then  they  had  to  live  on  bark  and  seeds  till  spring 
started  the  tender  green  plants  to  growing. 

The  squirrels  gnawed  the  bark  of  the  maple  trees 
and  drank  the  sweet  sap  that  came  oozing  out.  Later 
there  were  elm  buds  to  nibble  and  birds'  eggs  to  suck. 
The  woods  were  once  more  green  with  juicy  leaves. 

All  the  squirrels  went  to  housekeeping.  Soon  in 
almost  every  tree  there  was  a  family  of  squirrels  peep- 
ing out  with  their  round,  bright  eyes. 

—  Julia  A.  Schwartz. 


180 


THE  BABY  THAT  SLEEPS  IN  A  POCKET 

For  days  and  days  the  baby  opossums  lay 
crowded  close  together  in  their  mother's  furry  pocket. 
They  slept  and  drank  milk,  and  grew  and  grew  till  their 
eyes  began  to  open. 

It  was  dark  all  around  them,  but  above  their  heads 
a  gray  line  showed  where  light  was  stealing  in  over 
the  edge  of  the  pocket. 

The  biggest  baby  opossum  looked  up  with  his 
little  bright  eyes.  He  wanted  to  see  more.  So  he 
crawled  up,  clambering  over  the  soft  tiny  bodies  of 
the  eleven  other  babies. 

Some  of  them  wriggled  and  squirmed  under  his  little 
bare  feet.  After  slipping  back  once  or  twice  he  reached 
the  edge  and  poked  his  pointed  white  snout  outside. 

He  could  not  see  anything  because  he  was  under  his 
mother,  and  her  long  fur  hung  down  over  him.  She 
was  lying  on  a  nest  of  grasses  in  a  hollow  tree. 

That  was  where  she  stayed  all  day  long  while  the 
sun  was  shining.  Every  night  at  dusk  she  climbed 


•H8  181  8*- 

down  the  rough  trunk  and  went  to  hunt  for  some- 
thing to  eat. 

When  she  felt  the  tiny  claws  of  her  baby  clutching 
her  fur  she  looked  down  between  her  fore  paws  at  the 
little  mouse-like  fellow. 

Then  with  her  smooth  pink  hands  she  gently  pushed 
him  back  into  the  pocket  and  closed  the  opening.  He 
was  not  big  enough  yet  to  come  out  of  the  warm  dark 
nursery. 

So  for  a  week  longer  he  cuddled  down  beside  the 
others,  while  they  all  slept  and  drank  more  milk  and 
grew  stronger  every  hour. 

The  biggest  baby  was  so  restless  that  he  scrambled 
around  and  crowded  the  others.  Once  he  caught 
hold  of  a  tiny  tail  between  the  thumbs  and  fingers 
of  his  hind  feet,  and  pulled  till  the  little  one  squeaked. 
His  fore  feet  were  like  tiny  hands  without  any  thumbs. 

At  last,  one  day,  he  saw  the  edge  of  the  pocket  open 
a  crack.  He  was  so  glad  that  he  climbed  up  as  fast 
as  he  could  scramble,  and  pushed  outside.  He  held 
on  to  his  mother's  fur  with  all  four  feet. 


-»6  182  8*- 

When  she  reached  down  to  smell* him  the  bristles 
on  her  lips  tickled  his  nose.  Then  he  climbed  around 
upon  her  back  and  twisted  his  tail  about  hers  to  hold 
him  steady. 

He  looked  like  a  mouse  with  his  long  tail,  his  black 
ears,  his  bright  eyes  twinkling  in  his  little  white  face, 
and  his  pointed  nose. 

In  a  few  minutes  another  and  another  baby  followed 
the  big  brother  and  clung  there  on  the  mother's  furry 
back.  It  must  have  seemed  a  noisy  place  to  them, 
for  in  the  pocket  they  had  heard  only  the  soft  rustling 
and  scratching  of  the  mother's  feet  on  the  nest. 

Now  they  could  hear  a  chirping,  and  a  squeaking, 
and  a  rattling  of  branches.  They  crowded  close 
together  in  fright  at  the  scream  of  a  blue  jay,  as  it 
chased  a  chattering  red  squirrel  through  the  tree- 
top. 

Then  a  sudden  loud  thump  —  thump  —  thump  of 
a  woodpecker  hammering  on  the  bark  of  the  tree 
sent  them  tumbling  back  to  the  nursery  in  a 
hurry. 


-»6  183  8**- 

After  this  the  whole  family  climbed  out  every  day 
to  play  about  on  the  mother's  back.  The  biggest 
baby  liked  to  curl  his  small  tail  about  her  large  one, 
and  then  swing  off  head  downward. 

Sometimes  he  pushed  the  others  down  just  for  the 
fun  of  seeing  them  scramble  up  again,  hand  over 
hand,  clutching  the  long  fur. 

Of  course  he  was  the  first  one  to  poke  his  head  out 
every  day.  Once  he  woke  from  a  nap  in  the  pocket 
and  started  to  climb  outside. 

But  he  stopped  halfway,  hanging  to  the  edge  with 
both  fore  feet.  It  was  nearly  evening,  and  the  mother 
opossum  was  clambering  down  the  tree-trunk  to 
go  hunting  for  her  supper. 

The  baby  held  on  tightly  while  she  trotted  away 
through  the  woods.  Now  and  then  a  leaf  rustled 
or  a  stick  cracked  under  her  feet.  Sleepy  birds  were 
twittering  in  their  nests. 

The  mother  pricked  her  ears  and  listened,  for  she 
ate  eggs  and  young  birds  whenever  she  could  find 
them.  She  had  not  tasted  an  egg  this  spring,  because 


-»8  184  8<*- 

she    could    not   climb  very  nimbly  with  her  pocket 
full  of  babies. 

Soon  she  came  to  a  swamp,  and  splash,  splash,  splash ! 
the  mud  went  flying.  It  spattered  the  baby's  face 
and  made  him  cough. 


Then  he  heard  the  croakings  of  dozens  of  frogs, 
and  it  frightened  him  so  that  he  slid  back  into  the 
nursery  with  his  brothers. 

The  mother  was  trying  to  catch  a  frog  to  eat.  Now 
she  jumped  this  way,  and  now  she  jumped  that  way. 


-»6  185  8«- 

Such  a  jounce  as  the  babies  felt  when  she  gave  a 
spring  for  a  big  green  fellow  sitting  on  a  log. 

She  caught  him,  too,  but  the  jounce  almost  knocked 
the  breath  out  of  the  twelve  soft  bodies  in  her  pocket. 

Every  day  the  babies  stayed  outside  the  nursery 
for  a  longer  time,  though  they  were  always  ready 
to  hurry  back  at  the  mother's  first  warning  grunt. 

They  kept  growing  bigger,  too,  till  one  night  they 
could  not  all  crowd  into  the  pocket.  Then  they 
cuddled  together  on  her  back,  with  their  tails  twisted 
around  hers. 

In  this  way  they  rode  through  the  woods  when  she 
went  hunting.  They  watched  with  their  bright 
eyes  while  she  turned  over  rotting  logs  with  her  snout 
to  catch  the  grubs  underneath. 

Sometimes  she  rooted  in  the  ground  for  sprouting 
acorns,  or  nipped  off  mouthfuls  of  tender  grass.  Once 
she  caught  a  young  rabbit.  Then  how  excited  the 
little  opossums  were!  And  how  they  all  squeaked 
and  hissed  together  as  they  rode  trotting  home. 

By  this  time  they  had  cut  their  teeth,  —  fifty  sharp 


HS  186  fr- 

little  teeth  in  each  hungry  mouth.  Then  the  mother 
picked  some  sweet  red  berries,  and  taught  the  hungry 
babies  how  to  eat  them.  They  learned  to  chew  the 
juicy  roots  that  she  dug  in  the  field. 

The  babies  were  greedy  little  things.  She  was  a 
good  and  patient  mother.  Of  course,  as  long  as  they 
were  small  enough  to  stay  in  her  pocket  she  carried 
them  everywhere  with  her.  Even  when  they  grew  as 
large  as  rats  they  rode  on  her  back  through  the  woods. 
These  twelve  fat  babies  were  so  heavy  that  sometimes 
she  staggered  and  stumbled  under  the  load. 

One  night  when  all  the  babies  were  trotting  along 
on  their  own  feet  they  saw  gleaming  red  eyes  in  the 
dark  bushes  before  them.  Something  round  and  furry 
snarled  and  sprang  at  them. 

They  all  ran  under  their  mother  as  quick  as  a  wink. 
She  ruffled  her  long  grayish  hair  above  them.  When 
the  animal  jumped  at  her  she  growled,  and  hissed, 
and  scratched,  and  bit,  till  he  ran  limping  away. 

On  another  evening  a  big  dog  came  galloping  up 
before  they  could  scramble  into  a  tree.  His  red  tongue 


•*  187  fr- 

was  hanging  out  of  his  mouth  between  his  white  teeth. 
As  soon  as  he  caught  sight  of  the  opossums  he  made 
a  dash  to  catch  them.  Instantly  they  all  fell  down  and 
rolled  over  just  as  if  they  were  dead. 

There  they  lay,  with  their  eyes  shut,  their  paws 
limber,  their  tails  limp.  They  seemed  to  stop  breath- 
ing. The  dog  smelled  them  and  pushed  them  with 
his  cold  nose. 

But  they  kept  perfectly  still  and  did  not  move  even 
an  eyelash.  They  were  pretending  to  be  dead.  It 
was  one  trick  that  they  all  knew  without  being  taught. 

The  minute  the  dog  walked  away  they  all  jumped 
up  and  scampered  into  a  tree.  When  the  dog  turned 
his  head  and  saw  them  he  ran  back  and  leaped  up 
to  reach  them. 

But  all  the  opossums  were  safe  enough  now.  While 
he  was  jumping  and  barking  below  they  clung  fast 
in  the  tree  with  their  hand-like  feet.  They  wound 
their  tails  about  the  branches  above  to  hold  more 
securely. 

The  little  opossums  learned  to  climb  all  sorts  of 


-»S  188  8«- 

trees,  rough  or  smooth.  It  was  easier  to  climb  the 
rough  trees  because  they  could  dig  their  nails  farther 
into  the  bark. 

The  biggest  baby  could  walk  along  the  springiest 


limb,  even  if  it  kept  teetering  up  and  down  in  the 
wind.  When  he  felt  like  it  he  swung  by  his  tail  the 
longest  time  without  getting  dizzy. 

All  summer  long  the  twelve  little  opossums  stayed 
with  their  mother.  During  the  day  they  slept  cud- 
dled in  the  hollow  tree.  Every  night,  after  sunset, 


-»8  189  8<- 

the  mother  and  her  twelve  children  set  off  on  their 
hunting. 

Down  through  the  marsh  they  trotted.  Some 
waded  into  the  mud  to  catch  frogs,  while  others 
chased  mud  turtles  over  the  shore.  Some  hunted 
for  berries  and  others  nosed  for  acorns  under  the  oaks. 

It  was  beautiful  there  in  the  woods  at  night.  When 
the  stars  twinkled  overhead  and  the  soft  wind  rustled 
in  the  tree-tops  the  little  ones  frisked  and  frolicked. 

They  hid  under  the  shadowy  bushes  or  jumped 
hither  and  thither  to  snap  at  the  fluttering 
moths. 

But  on  stormy  evenings  they  plodded  on  in  the 
rain,  their  wet  fur  drooping.  With  their  noses  close 
to  the  ground  they  hunted  till  they  found  a  few 
mouthfuls  to  eat.  Then  they  wrent  back  to  the  cosy 
hollow  for  a  longer  nap,  after  licking  their  pink  hands 
and  washing  their  faces,  just  as  kittens  do. 

One  night,  in  autumn,  the  old  mother  opossum 
felt  the  nip  of  frost  in  the  air.  Then  she  knew  that 
the  persimmons  were  ready  to  be  eaten.  Away 


•-»8  190  fr- 

through  the  woods  she  hurried,  with  the  young  ones 
trotting  after  her. 

She  led  the  way  past  the  marsh  and  over  the 
hill  to  a  thicket  of  trees  tangled  with  wild  grape- 
vines. There  on  the  branches  the  round  persimmons 
were  shining  yellow  in  the  moonlight. 

Up  the  trees  eleven  of  the  babies  scrambled  hungrily, 
and,  hanging  by  their  tails,  stuffed  the  fruit  into  their 
wide  mouths.  Ah!  But  wasn't  it  delicious!  Better 
than  anything  they  had  ever  tasted  before  in  all  their 
short  lives. 

Then  the  biggest  baby,  who  had  stopped  to  gobble 
ripe  grapes,  heard  them  munching  so  greedily.  One 
look  sent  him  hurrying  after  the  others.  He  was 
sorry  enough  that  he  had  wasted  any  time  eating 
wild  grapes. 

Night  after  night,  till  the  little  persimmons  were 
gone,  the  opossums  hurried  away  to  the  thicket,  and 
ate  and  ate  till  they  could  eat  no  longer.  They  grew 
so  fat  that  they  puffed  and  panted  when  trotting 
home  again  in  the  gray  light  of  the  frosty  dawn. 


-»8   191   8<- 

Soon  the  ground  was  frozen  hard  over  the  juicy 
roots.  All  the  fruit  left  in  the  woods  hung  wrinkled 
and  frost-bitten.  The  worms  and  toads  crawled  into 
their  holes  for  the  winter.  The  beetles  disappeared, 


and  the  spiders  curled  up  in  their  hiding  places  to 
sleep  through  the  cold  weather.  Most  of  the  birds 
flew  away  south. 

One  by  one  each  little  opossum  wandered  off  by 
himself,  and  made  a  nest  in  a  cosy  hole  or  a  hollow 


•*8  192  &- 

stump.  There  he  dozed  all  day  and  often  slept  through 
the  night  without  stirring  out. 

Now  and  then  one  of  them  caught  a  mouse  or  dug 
up  a  frozen  root  to  nibble.  Sometimes  they  tore 
rotten  logs  apart  to  get  at  the  grubs. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  winter  the  little  opossums 
were  so  fat  that  they  could  live  three  or  four  weeks 
without  eating  or  drinking.  When  the  cold  winds  blew, 
and  the  snow  fell,  they  cuddled  down  in  their  warm 
nests  and  slept  the  time  away.  But  many  a  night 
they  woke  up  hungry.  And  every  day  their  round 
furry  bodies  were  a  little  thinner,  till  at  last,  spring 
melted  the  snow  and  ice  everywhere. 

There  was  plenty  to  eat  by  that  time,  with  all  the 
green  things  growing.  There  were  buds  to  nibble 
and  beetles  to  catch.  There  were  frogs  croaking  in 
the  marsh,  and  berries  were  ripening  in  the  field. 

The  twelve  little  opossums  were  grown  up  now, 
and  knew  how  to  take  care  of  themselves.  Their 
mother  had  another  family  of  babies  in  her  furry 
pocket. 


*8  193  £*- 

Sometimes  she  met  her  other  children  roaming  be- 
side the  marsh  to  catch  frogs.  One  evening  they  saw 
a  little  pointed  nose,  and  two  twinkling  bright  eyes, 
peeping  over  the  edge  of  her  pocket. 

—  Julia  A.  Schwartz. 

Will  there  really  be  a  morning? 
Is  there  such  a  thing  as  day? 
Could  I  see  it  from  the  mountains 
If  I  were  as  tall  as  they? 

Has  it  feet  like  water  lilies? 

Has  it  feathers  like  a  bird? 

Is  it  brought  from  famous  countries 

Of  which  I  have  never  heard? 

Oh,  some  scholar!    Oh,  some  sailor! 
Oh,  some  wise  man  from  the  skies! 
Please  to  tell  a  little  pilgrim 
Where  the  place  called  morning  lies! 

—  Emily  Dickinson. 


-»6  194 


THE   EMPEROR   AND   THE   PEASANT 


Once  upon  a  time  there  was  an  Emperor  of  China, 
named  Lee  Wong.  He  would  have  been  a  very  good 
Emperor  if  he  had  not  been  spoiled  by  kindness. 

If  he  cried  when  he  was  a  baby,  his  nurse  called 
all  the  nurses  in  the  palace. 

They  called  the  attendants,  and  the  attendants 
called  the  musicians.  The  musicians  played,  the 
attendants  danced,  and  the  nurses  walked  up  and 
down  wheeling  the  baby  in  his  carriage  until  he 
stopped  crying.  Sometimes  this  happened  many 
times  in  one  day. 

When  Lee  was  a  boy  he  had  his  own  way  in  every- 
thing. If  he  played  soldier  he  was  always  the  general. 
If  he  went  to  fly  kites,  he  had  the  ones  that  would 
fly  the  highest. 

Sometimes  he  wished  to  fly  his  kites  when  the  wind 
did  not  blow.  Then  the  poor  attendants  had  to  blow 


-»8  195  8«- 

with  a  huge  bellows  to  make  the  kites  sail  up  into  the 
air. 

If  he  wished  it  were  summer  in  the  winter-time, 
they  filled   his   playroom  with   beautiful  plants  and 


brought  canaries  and  nightingales  to  sing  to  him. 
In  the  hot  summer  days,  •  if  he  longed  for  winter, 
they  brought  evergreen  trees  to  the  playroom.  They 
covered  the  branches  with  cotton  sprinkled  with 
diamond  dust  to  look  like  snow.  They  brought 


-»8  196  &- 

cakes  of  ice  and  made  a  skating  rink  and  jingled  sleigh 
bells  all  day  long  while  he  played. 

When  he  was  a  young  man  it  was  still  worse.  If 
he  said  anything,  like,  "  This  is  a  sunny  morning/' 
or  "  I  think  it  will  rain  to-night/7  every  one  cried, 
"  How  wise! "  "  How  wonderfully  wise!  " 

So  you  see  the  Emperor  was  spoiled,  and  this  was 
very  unfortunate. 

In  China,  just  as  in  other  places,  every  one  longs 
for  spring  to  come. 

One  year  the  Emperor  wanted  the  spring  to  come 
more  than  ever.  He  had  had  a  dull  winter  in  his 
city  palace  and  he  wanted  to  go  to  his  country  palace. 

"  Command  my  brother,  the  Sun,  to  shine  to- 
morrow/' he  said,  to  his  attendants.  "  Command 
the  spring  to  come,  also.  And  be  ready,  all  of  you, 
to  go  to  the  country  to-morrow." 

One  of  the  attendants  wrote  the  Emperor's  com- 
mands on  the  finest  Chinese  paper  and  then  burned 
it  in  the  garden.  He  thought  in  this  way  the  com- 
mands might  reach  the  sun. 


-*  197  &- 

Perhaps  they  did;  for  the  sun  shone  beautifully 
the  next  day,  and  the  Emperor  and  his  attendants 
went  to  the  country  palace. 

ii 

The  next  morning  the  Emperor  waked  up  very  early. 
A  little  bird  was  singing  in  the  garden.  It  was  a 
lovely  day. 

The  Emperor  thought  he  would  go  out  into  the 
garden  to  hear  the  little  bird  sing. 

He  put  on  his'  silk  dressing-gown,  his  silver  shoes, 
and  his  gold  crown.  It  was  only  six  o'clock,  so  no 
one  was  awake  in  the  palace. 

When  the  Emperor  went  into  the  garden  the  bird 
flew  into  the  forest  and  sang  still  more  sweetly. 

"  How  stupid  I  was/7  thought  the  Emperor,  "  I 
ought  to  have  commanded  it  to  stay  here.  Now  I 
must  go  into  the  woods  to  see  it." 

So  he  opened  the  gate  and  went  across  the  field. 

At  the  edge  of  the  woods  a  peasant  was  plowing. 

"  Good    morning,    peasant,"    said    the    Emperor, 


-fl  198  9<- 

"  That  must  be  an  Emperor  bird  singing  in  the  forest, 
because  it  sings  so  sweetly." 

"  No,  my  lord,"  said  the  peasant,  taking  off  his  cap, 
"  that  is  a  blackbird." 

"  You  may  call  it  so,"  said  the  Emperor;  "  but 
it  is  an  Emperor  bird  if  I  say  so,  because  I  am  always 
right.  It  is  as  large  as  a  swan,  and  its  feathers  are  like 
shining  gold." 

"  No,  my  lord,"  said  the  peasant,  "  it  is  small  and 
black." 

Just  then  the  blackbird  lighted  on  a  post  in  the 
fence  and  began  to  sing.  It  was  easy  to  see  that  the 
peasant  was  right. 

"  There  must  surely  be  something  wrong,"  said  the 
Emperor,  "  because  I  never  make  a  mistake." 

"  But,  my  lord,  the  Emperor  can  make  a  mistake. 
Every  one  does  that.  Your  attendants  may  say 
that  you  are  always  right  because  they  wish  to  please 
you.  Perhaps  they  even  praise  what  you  do,  when 
it  is  wrong  and  foolish." 

"  I  can  never  believe  that,"  said  the  Emperor. 


"  If  you  will  do  as  I  say/'  replied  the  peasant, 
"  I  will  prove  that  I  have  told  you  the  truth." 

in 

The  Emperor  promised  to  do  this,  although  he  could 
not  believe  he  had  been  deceived. 

Just  then  all  the  attendants  came  running  across 
the  field,  for  they  had  waked  up  and  missed  the 
Emperor. 

Tears  ran  down  their  cheeks.  They  wished  to  have 
the  Emperor  think  they  were  weeping  because  he  was 
gone.  He  did  not  know  each  one  had  an  onion  in  his 
handkerchief. 

"  Command  them  to  stop  where  they  are,"  the 
peasant  whispered. 

The  Emperor  made  them  stop  about  twenty  feet 
away,  right  in  the  middle  of  a  ditch. 

"  We  are  weeping  because  of  your  absence,  beloved 
Emperor,"  said  the  chief  attendant.  He  wiped  his 
eyes  with  his  handkerchief,  and  all  the  others  did 
the  same  thing. 


-•8  200  8<- 

"  How  do  you  dare  to  stand  beside  the  Emperor, 
you  peasant,"  said  the  Lord  Marshal.  "  Go  back 
to  your  plow!  " 

"  Say  that  I  am  standing  beside  my  plow,"  whispered 


the  peasant.  He  was  really  standing  beside  the 
Emperor,  and  the  plow  was  thirty  feet  away. 

"  Do  you  not  see,"  said  the  Emperor,  "  that  he  is 
standing  beside  the  plow?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  one,  "  he  is  holding  the  plow  with 
one  hand." 


-*9  201  8*- 

"  Yes,  yes,"  said  another,  "  he  is  surely  driving 
his  oxen." 

"  Ask  them,"  whispered  the  peasant,  "  if  they 
ever  saw  such  white  oxen." 

Now  the  peasant's  oxen  were  coal  black,  without  a 
single  white  spot  on  them. 

"  Have  you  ever  seen  such  beautiful  white  oxen?  n 
said  the  Emperor,  pointing  to  the  black  ones. 

"  No,  never,"  said  one,  "  they  are  indeed  snow 
white." 

"  Yes,"  said  another,  "  they  are  whiter  than  snow. 
It  hurts  my  eyes  to  look  at  them,  they  are  so  white." 

The  Emperor  knew  now  that  they  were  not  telling 
the  truth,  and  he  decided  to  punish  them. 

"  Come  here,"  he  called  to  some  peasants  who  were 
plowing  in  the  next  field. 

"  There  is  nothing  so  pleasant  as  plowing,"  he  said 
to  his  attendants. 

"It  is  a  great  pleasure,"  said  one. 

"I  enjoy  it  more  than  anything  in  the  world,"  said 
another. 


HS  202  8<- 

"  I  would  rather  plow  than  dance,"  said  a  third. 

"  I  am  very  glad  you  think  so,  my  lords,"  said  the 
Emperor.  "  These  peasants  will  be  glad  to  have  you 
plow  for  them.  This  is  my  command.  Begin  at 
once! " 

There  was  no  help  for  it.  The  courtiers  did  not 
dare  to  disobey,  so  they  took  hold  of  the  plows  and 
tried  to  drive  the  oxen  across  the  long  fields. 

I  do  not  believe  they  plowed  very  well,  for  they  had 
never  touched  a  plow  before,  and  did  not  know  how 
to  drive  oxen. 

But  the  peasant  went  to  the  palace  and  became  the 
Emperor's  chief  counsellor. 

The  Emperor  had  this  story  written  on  a  block 
of  marble  in  golden  letters,  but  few  people  can  read 
it  because  it  is  written  in  Chinese,  and  it  is  very  hard 
to  have  to  read  Chinese. 

—  Anna  von  Rydingsvdrd. 


-*  203  8**- 

THE    CHRISTMAS   MONKS 

I THE   GARDEN 

Have  you  always  wondered  where  the  Christmas 
presents  come  from?  Well,  I  am  going  to  tell  you. 

Of  course,  every  one  knows  that  Santa  Glaus  brings 
them.  He  comes  in  a  sleigh,  driving  eight  reindeer, 
and  carries  the  presents  down  the  chimney  in  a  pack 
on  his  back. 

But  where  does  he  get  them?  That  is  the  question. 
And  the  answer  is,  —  in  the  garden  of  the  Christmas 
Monks. 

This  garden  is  in  a  beautiful  valley  far  away.  But  I 
must  not  tell  you  the  name  of  the  valley,  for  if  I  did 
you  would  all  want  to  go  there  to  live. 

The  Christmas  Monks  live  in  a  stone  castle  covered  •' 
with  ivy  and  evergreen  vines.    There  are  holly  wreaths 
in  every  window,  and  over  the  door  is  an  arch,  with 
"  Merry  Christmas  "  in  evergreen  letters. 

The  Christmas  Monks  wear  white  robes  embroidered 


•«8  2O4  &- 

with  gold,  and  they  never  go  without  a  Christmas 
wreath  on  their  heads.  Every  morning  they  sing  a 
Christmas  carol,  and  every  evening  they  ring  a 
Christmas  chime  on  the  bells. 

For  dinner  every  day  they  have  roast  goose  and 
plum  pudding  and  mince  pie,  and  at  night  they  set 
lighted  candles  in  all  of  the  windows. 

But  the  best  place  of  all  is  the  garden,  for  that  is 
where  the  Christmas  presents  grow. 

It  is  a  very  large  garden  and  is  divided  into  beds, 
just  like  our  vegetable  gardens.  Every  spring  the 
Monks  go  out  to  plow  the  ground  and  plant  the  Christ- 
mas present  seeds. 

There  is  one  big  bed  for  rocking-horses,  another 
for  drums,  and  another  for  sleds.  The  bed  for  the 
balls  is  not  so  large,  and  the  top  bed  is  quite 
small,  because  tops  do  not  need  much  room  when 
they  are  growing. 

The  rocking-horse  seed  looks  like  tiny  rocking- 
horses.  The  Monks  drop  these  seeds  quite  far  apart, 
then  they  cover  them  up  neatly  with  earth,  and  put 


-»8  2O5  8«- 

up  a  signpost  with  "  Rocking-horses  ''  on  it  in  ever- 
green letters. 

Just  so  with  the  penny-trumpet  seed,  and  the  toy- 
furniture  seed,  the  sled  seed,  and  all  the  others. 

Perhaps  the  prettiest  part  of  the  garden  is  the 
wax-doll  bed.  There  are  other  beds  for  the  rag  dolls 
and  the  china  dolls,  and  the  rubber  dolls,  but,  of 
course,  wax  dolls  look  much  handsomer  growing. 

Wax  dolls  have  to  be  planted  very  early  in  the 
season.  The  Monks  sow  them  in  rows  in  April  and 
they  begin  to  come  up  by  the  middle  of  May. 

First  there  is  a  glimmer  of  gold,  or  brown,  or  black 
hair.  Then  the  snowy  foreheads  appear,  and  the 
blue  eyes  and  black  eyes,  and  at  last  all  the  pretty 
heads  are  out  of  the  ground  and  nodding  and  smiling 
to  each  other. 

With  their  pink  cheeks  and  bright  eyes  and  curly 
hair,  there  is  nothing  so  pretty  as  these  little  wax- 
doll  heads  peeping  out  of  the  ground. 

Slowly  the  dolls  grow  taller  and  taller,  and  by 
Christmas  they  are  all  ready  to  gather.  There  they 


-»6  2O6  &- 

stand,  swaying  to  and  fro,  their  dresses  of  pink  or 
blue  or  white  fluttering  in  the  breeze. 

Just  about  the  prettiest  sight  in  the  world  is  the 
bed  of  wax  dolls  in  the  garden  of  the  Christmas  Monks 
at  Christmas  time. 

II  —  PETER   AND   THE    PRINCE 

All  the  children  for  miles  around  knew  about  this 
garden,  of  course,  but  they  had  never  seen  it.  There 
is  a  thick  hedge  of  Christmas  trees  all  around  it,  and 
the  gate  where  Santa  Clgtus  drives  out  is  always  locked 
with  a  golden  key  the  moment  he  goes  through. 

So  you  can  imagine  what  excitement  there  was 
among  the  boys  when  this  notice  was  hung  out  on  the 
hedge  of  Christmas  trees:  — 

Wanted  :  —  By  the  Christmas  Monks,  two  good  boys  to  help  in 
garden  work.  Apply  at  the  garden  on  April  tenth. 

The  notice  was  hung  out  about  five  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  one  day  in  February.  By  noon  the  next  day 
all  the  neighborhood  had  seen  it  and  read  it. 


-•8  207  8»- 

Oh,  what  fun  it  would  be  to  work  in  the  garden  of 
the  Christmas  Monks!  There  would  be  the  dinner 
of  roast  goose  and  plum  pudding  every  day.  There 
would  be  the  Christmas  bells  and  the  Christmas 
candles  every  night.  And,  of  course,  one  could  have 
all  the  toys  he  wanted,  and  pick  them  out  himself. 

So,  from  that  very  minute  until  the  tenth  of  April, 
the  boys  were  as  good,  —  as  good  as  gold. 

Then,  on  the  tenth  of  April,  the  big  Santa  Glaus 
gate  was  opened,  and  such  a  crowd  poured  into  the 
garden!  The  ground  was  plowed,  but  the  seed  had 
not  been  planted,  so  they  could  walk  about  every- 
where. 

Two  of  the  Christmas  Monks  sat  on  a  throne  trimmed 
so  thick  with  evergreens  that  it  looked  like  a  bird's 
nest.  They  wore  Christmas  wreaths  on  their  heads, 
and  their  eyes  twinkled  merrily. 

The  little  boys  stood  in  a  long  row  before  them, 
and  the  fathers,  mothers,  uncles,  aunts,  grandmothers, 
and  grandfathers  looked  on. 

It  was  very  sad!    One  boy  had  taken  eggs  from  a 


-»8  2O8  &- 

bird's  nest;  and  another  had  frightened  a  cat.  One 
boy  didn't  help  his  mother,  and  another  didn't  take 
good  care  of  his  little  brother.- 

At  last  there  were  only  two  boys  left,  —  Peter  and 
the  Prince. 

Now  Peter  was  really  and  truly  a  good  boy,  and 
always  had  been.  And  of  course  every  one  said  the 
Prince  was  a  good  boy,  because  a  King's  son  must 
be  good.  So  the  Monks  chose  Peter  and  the  Prince 
to  work  in  the  garden. 

The  next  morning  the  two  boys  were  dressed  in 
white  robes  and  green  wreaths  like  the  Monks.  Then 
the  Prince  was  sent  to  plant  Noah's-Ark  seed  and 
Peter  was  given  picture-book  seed. 

Up  and  down  they  went,  scattering  the  seeds. 
Peter  sang  a  little  song  to  himself,  but  the  Prince 
grumbled  because  they  had  not  given  him  gold-watch 
seed. 

By  noon  Peter  had  planted  all  his  picture  books  and 
fastened  up  the  card  to  mark  them,  but  the  Prince 
had  planted  only  two  rows  of  Noah's  Arks. 


-•8  209  8<- 

"  We  are  going  to  have  trouble  with  this  boy," 
said  the  Monks  to  each  other.  "  We  shall  have  to 
punish  him." 

So  that  day  the  Prince  had  no  Christmas  dinner, 


and  the  next  morning  he  finished  planting  the  Noah's- 
Ark  seed. 

But  the  very  next  day  he  was  cross  because  he  had 
to  sow  harmonicas  instead  of  toy  pianos,  and  had  to 
be  punished  again.  And  so  it  was  every  other  day 
through  the  whole  summer. 


.-«  210  s<- 

So  the  Prince  was  very  unhappy  and  wished  he 
could  run  away,  but  Peter  had  never  been  so  happy 
in  his  life.  He  worked  like  a  bee  all  day,  and  loved 
to  watch  the  Christmas  gifts  grow  and  blossom. 

"  They  grow  so  slowly,"  the  Prince  would  say. 
"  I  thought  I  should  have  a  bushel  of  new  toys  every 
month  and  not  one  have  I  had  yet."  Then  he  would 
cry,  and  Peter  would  try  to  comfort  him. 

At  last  one  day  the  Prince  found  a  ladder  in  the 
tool  house.  The  Monks  were  in  the  chapel,  singing 
Christmas  carols,  and  Peter  was  tuning  the  penny 
trumpets.  It  was  a  fine  chance  to  run  away.  The 
Prince  put  the  ladder  against  the  Santa  Glaus  gate, 
climbed  up  to  the  top,  and  slid  down  on  the  outside. 

Ill THE    PRETTIEST    DOLL 

It  was  nearly  Christmas  now,  and  most  of  the  toys 
had  been  gathered.  The  rocking-horses  were  still 
growing,  and  a  few  of  the  largest  dolls;  but  the 
tops,  balls,  guns,  blocks,  and  drums  were  all  packed 
in  baskets  ready  for  Santa  Glaus. 


-»6  211  6<~ 

One  morning  Peter  was  in  the  wax-doll  bed,  dusting 
the  dolls.  All  of  a  sudden  he  heard  a  sweet  voice 
saying,  "  Oh,  Peter!" 

He  thought  at  first  it  was  one  of  the  dolls,  but  they 
could  only  say  "  Papa!  "  and  "  Mamma!  " 

"  Here  I  am,  Peter/7  said  the  voice  again,  and  what 
do  you  suppose  Peter  saw?  It  was  his  own  dear  little 
lame  sister. 

She  was  not  any  taller  than  the  dolls  around  her, 
and  she  looked  just  like  one  of  them  with  her  pink 
cheeks  and  yellow  hair.  She  stood  there  on  her 
crutches,  poor  little  thing,  smiling  lovingly  at  Peter. 

"  Oh,  you  darling/7  cried  Peter,  catching  her  up 
in  his  arms.  "  How  did  you  get  in  here?  " 

"  I  saw  one  of  the  Monks  going  past  our  house, 
so  I  ran  out  and  followed  him.  When  he  came  through 
the  gate  I  came  in,  too,  but  he  did  not  see  me." 

"  Well,"  said  Peter,  "  I  don't  see  what  I  can  do 
with  you.  I  can't  let  you  out,  because  the  gate  is 
locked,  and  I  don't  know  what  the  Monks  will  say." 

"  Oh,  I  know!  "  cried  the  little  girl.    "  I'll  stay  out 


-»6  212  &- 

here  in  the  garden.  I  can  sleep  every  night  in  one  of 
those  beautiful  dolls'  cradles  over  there,  and  you  can 
bring  me  something  to  eat." 

"  But  the  Monks  come  out  every  morning  to  look 
at  the  Christmas  gifts,  and  they  will  see  you,"  said 
her  brother. 

"No,  I'll  hide!  Oh,  Peter,  here  is  a  place  where 
there  isn't  any  doll." 

"  Yes,  that  doll  didn't  come  up." 

"Well,  I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do!  I'll  stand  here 
where  the  doll  didn't  come  up  and  try  to  look  like 


one." 


"  Perhaps  you  can  do  that,"  said  Peter.  He  was 
such  a  good  boy  that  he  didn't  want  to  do  anything 
wrong,  but  he  couldn't  help  being  glad  to  see  his 
dear  little  sister. 

He  took  food  out  to  her  every  day,  and  she  helped 
him  in  the  garden.  At  night  he  tucked  her  into  one 
of  the  dolls'  cradles  with  lace  pillows  and  a  quilt  of 
rose-colored  silk. 

So  they  went  on,  day  after  day,  and  they  were  just 


-*  213  8t- 

as  happy  as  they  could  be.  Finally  the  day  came 
for  gathering  the  very  last  of  the  Christmas  gifts, 
because  in  six  days  it  would  be  Christmas,  and  Santa 
^Claus  had  to  start  out  in  a  day  or  two. 

So  the  Monks  went  into  the  garden  to  be  sure  that 


everything  was  perfect,  and  one  of  them  wore  his 
spectacles.  When  he  came  to  the  bed  where  the 
biggest  dolls  were  growing,  there  stood  Peter's  sister, 
smiling  and  swinging  on  her  crutches. 

"  Why,  what  is  that!  "  said  the  Monk.    "  I  thought 


-»6  214  8<- 

that  doll  didn't  come  up.     There  is  a  doll  there  - 
and  a  doll  on  crutches,  too." 

Then  he  put  out  his  hand  to  touch  the  doll  and 
she  jumped,  —  she  couldn't  help  it.  The  Monk 
jumped  too,  and  his  Christmas  wreath  fell  off  his  head. 

"  The  doll  is  alive!"  he  exclaimed.  "I  will  pick 
her  and  show  her  to  my  brothers." 

Then  the  good  father  put  on  his  Christmas  wreath, 
took  Peter's  little  sister,  crutches  and  all,  in  his  arms, 
and  carried  her  into  the  chapel. 

IV  —  CHRISTMAS   GIFTS 

Soon  the  Monks  came  into  the  chapel  to  practise 
singing  some  new  Christmas  carols.  There  sat  the 
near-sighted  Monk,  holding  the  big  doll  in  his  arms. 

"  Behold  a  miracle,"  he  said,  holding  up  the  doll. 
"  Thou  wilt  remember  that  there  was  one  doll  planted 
which  did  not  come  up.  Behold,  in  her  place  I  have 
found  this  doll  on  crutches,  which  is  —  alive!  " 

"•  It  is  indeed  a  miracle,"  said  the  Monk  who  was  a 
doctor.  He  took  the  child  in  his  arms  and  looked 


THE    GOOD    FATHER   TOOK    PETER'S    LITTLE    SISTER,    CRUTCHES  AND   ALL, 
IN    HIS   ARMS. 


-*  215  Bi- 
at  the  twisted  ankle.     "  I  think  I  can  cure  this  lame- 
ness/ '  he  said. 

"  Take  her,  then/7  said  the  abbot,  "  and  we  will 
sing  our  Christmas  carols  joyously  in  her  honor." 

Peter,  of  course,  heard  the  Monks  talking  about  the 
miracle,  and  he  knew  what  it  meant.  He  was  very 
unhappy  to  think  that  he  was  deceiving  them.  At 
the  same  time  he  did  not  dare  to  tell  them  for  fear 
the  doctor  would  not  try  to  cure  his  sister. 

He  worked  hard  picking  the  Christmas  presents, 
and  getting  them  ready  for  Santa  Glaus. 

On  Christmas  Eve  he  was  called  into  the  chapel. 
The  walls  were  covered  with  evergreen,  and  Christmas 
candles  shone  everywhere.  There  were  Christmas 
wreaths  in  all  the  windows,  and  the  Monks  were 
singing  a  Christmas  carol. 

On  a  chair  covered  with  green  .branches  sat  Peter's 
little  sister,  dressed  in  white,  with  a  wreath  of  holly 
bernes  on  her  head. 

When  the  carol  was  ended,  the  Monks  formed  in 
a  line  with  the  abbot  at  the  head.  Each  one  had  his 


-•8  216  8<~ 

hands  full  of  the  most  beautiful  Christmas  presents. 
The  abbot  held  a  wax  doll,  the  biggest  and  prettiest 
that  grew  in  the  garden. 

When  he  held  it  out  to  the  little  girl,  she  drew  back, 
'and  said  in  her  sweet  little  voice,  "  Please,  I'm  not  a 
miracle;  I'm  only  Peter's  little  sister." 

"  Peter?  "  said  the  abbot;  "  the  Peter  who  works 
in  our  garden?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  the  little  sister. 

The  Monks  looked  at  each  other  in  dismay.  This 
was  not  a  miracle,  it  was  only  Peter's  little  sister! 

But  the  abbot  of  the  Christmas  Monks  spoke  to 
them.  "  This  little  girl  did  not  come  up  in  the  place 
of  the  wax  doll,  and  she  is  not  a  miracle.  But  she 
is  sweet  and  beautiful,  and  we  all  love  her." 

"  Yes,"  said  the  Christmas  Monks,  and  they  laid 
their  presents  down  before  her. 

Peter  was  so  happy  he  danced  for  joy.  And  when 
he  found  his  little  sister  was  cured  of  her  lameness, 
he  did  not  know  what  to  do. 

In  the  afternoon  he  took  his  sister  and  went  home 


-»8  217  &- 

to  see  his  father  and  mother.  Santa  Glaus  filled  his 
sleigh  with  gifts  and  drove  his  reindeer  down  to  the 
cottage. 

Oh!  it  was  such  a  happy  day.    There  was  so  much 
'to  tell  that  they  all  talked  at  once.     There  was  so 
much  to  see  that  their  eyes  ached  with  looking. 

But  in  the  palace  of  the  King  it  was  very  different. 
The  Prince  was  cross  and  unhappy.  His  old  toys  were 
broken.  He  was  tired  of  his  old  games.  There  was  no 
one  for  him  to  play  with,  and  he  didn't  have  one 
single  Christmas  gift. 

—  Mary  E.  Wilkins  (abridged  and  adapted). 


PEONOUNCING  KEY   AND  WORD  LIST 

THE  words  in  this  list  are  divided  into  syllables  and  marked 
according  to  Webster's  International  Dictionary.  The  list  in- 
cludes all  the  more  difficult  words  which  occur  in  the  text. 


a 

gate 

e=a 

there 

u 

use 

ou      out 

a 

bat 

e=a 

they 

u 

cup 

ow      cow 

a 

car 

u 

fruit 

c         can 

a 

ball 

1 

pine 

u 

fur 

Q        gent 

a 

care 

I 

pin 

u 

full 

g        get 

a 

ask 

i 

sir 

u 

unite 

g        gem 

a 

what 

s         so 

a 

animal 

6 

note 

y 

my 

§         a§ 

a 

senate 

0 

not 

y 

city- 

11        ink 

o 

do 

th       think 

e 

we 

9 

wolf 

00 

boot 

th       them 

6 

get 

6 

son 

do 

foot 

e 

her 

6 

or 

Qi 

oil 

e 

e  vent 

6 

obey 

°7 

boy 

The  silent  tetters  are  printed  in  italic. 


219 


ab'bot 

Ar'£  rat 

bra^d'ed 

9er'  tain  ly 

ac  count' 

Arc'tic 

Bra  zil' 

chalet(shaia') 

ac  qiiaint'ed 

a  lith'me  tic 

break'fast 

cham'bers 

ad  mired' 

Ar  me'm  a 

breast'&not 

chan9e 

ad  ven'ture 

ar'ti  cles 

breath 

chap'el 

ad  vised' 

a  shamed' 

breeze 

cM§m 

a  far' 

a  shore 

bridge 

chat'tered 

af  ford' 

as  sure'  (shur) 

bri'er 

cheer'ful  ly 

a  float' 

a  stir' 

bristle 

chim'ney 

a  fraz'd' 

as  ton'ished 

broods 

Chi  nese' 

aft'er  wards 

at'tic 

bu'reau  (ro) 

chip'munk 

(werdz) 

awl 

burst 

chig'el 

a  gainst' 

but'ted 

choose 

(genst) 

back'  ward 

chop'sticks 

Ah'  mow 

(werd) 

ca7f 

clack'mg 

a  live'  • 

bal'aiiQed 

cal'i  co 

clam'ber 

al'most 

bal'co  ny 

ca  nal' 

cla^ 

a*  16ft' 

ban'ners 

ca  na'ry 

c% 

a  lone' 

bare'foot 

ca  noe' 

clev'er 

ai'pha  bet  (fa) 

bar'ley 

ca'per 

clown 

Alps 

bar'ren 

car'ni  val 

clum'sy 

al  though' 

be  h'eved' 

car'61 

clutch 

al  to  gSth'er 

bent 

car'pen  ter 

coax 

am'e  thyst 

be  winched' 

car'ry  all 

cob'web 

am'u  lets 

bircli 

carve 

co'coa  nut 

an'chored 

black'board 

cask 

co  coon' 

(kerd) 

bladeg 

castle 

coin§ 

an'gel 

bleak 

cat'er  pil  lar 

col'lege 

an  oth'er 

blos'soms 

(ler) 

Col  6  ra'do 

an'swered 

blini'der 

c&t'rte 

Co  lum'bus 

anx'ious  (ank' 

blus'tered 

Ceased 

com'fort  a  loile 

shus) 

bob'6  link 

Qezl'ing 

(fert) 

ap  proach'mg 

bon'bons 

9el'lar  (ler) 

com  mand' 

220 


com'pa  ny 

dam'ty 

en'e  my 

fe^ch 

con  di'tion 

dark'en  ing 

Eng'land  (m'- 

fez 

(dish'un) 

dart'gd 

gland) 

fi'bre  (ber) 

con  sent' 

da^^'ter 

Eng'lish    (in'- 

fierce 

con  tains' 

dea'con 

glish) 

fl'nal  ly 

con  ver  sa'tion 

de  9eiv'mg 

gn  joy' 

fire'plilQe 

(shun) 

De  ^em'ber 

e  nor'mous 

firm'er 

coo'ing 

de  Qid'ed 

e  nough'  (nuf) 

flee'^y 

c6rn'staZk 

dec'6  rat  gd 

en'ter 

flick'er  ing 

coVtume 

defy' 

en  ter  tain' 

flood 

co'sj 

de  li'cious 

er'rand 

fluffy 

cqim'sel  or(er) 

(lish'us) 

Es'ki  mo 

fliit'ter  ing 

cowrt'ier  (yer) 

de  IT^t'ful 

ev'er  y  where 

foZk 

cra'dle 

de  mure' 

(hwar) 

fol'ly 

cran'ber  ry 

dgs'ert 

ev'i  dent  ly 

fool'ish 

crea'ture 

deV6  late 

ex  act'ly  (8gz) 

fond 

crick'et 

dSs'tmed 

ex  c.ept' 

fore 

croak 

dim'pling 

ex  Qite'ment 

for  got'teii 

crook'ed 

di  r^c'tion 

ex  cur'sion 

F6Vm  ca  Ru'fa 

crowed 

(shun) 

(shun) 

f6r'ward 

crowned 

ex  pect'ed 

(werd) 

cru'el 

ea'ger 

ex  planned' 

fqun'tain 

criimo 

ea'ger  ly 

eye'lash  (I) 

fra'grange 

cruteh'es 

ear'ly 

FranQe 

cud'dle 

earn 

fac'to  ry 

fri^^t'en 

cu  ri  os'i  ty 

ea'§i  ly 

faint'ly 

fri^^t'ful 

cu'ri  oiis 

E'gypt 

fa^'r'y 

frost'ing 

curled 

e  lev'eii 

f  am'i  ly 

fro'zen 

cur'rent 

elve§ 

fan  tas'tic 

f  u'ri  oiis  ly 

cur'tain 

em  broid'er 

fa'vor  lie  (ver) 

furled 

cushion 

em'er  aid 

feast 

fur'nage 

em'per  or  (er) 

fgr'ry 

fur'nish 

daf  'f  6  dil 

em  ploy'er 

fes'ti  val 

f  ur'ni  ture 

221 


fur'ry 

Hans 

In  sane' 

lid 

har'bor  (ber) 

m'stant  ly 

liq'uid      (Ilk'- 

gale§ 

hard'ened 

In  stead' 

wld) 

gal'ler  y 

bar  mon'  I  ca 

In  tencl'e'd 

lin'ger  ing 

GSr'a  b6t 

har'ness 

in'ter  est  Ing 

limp 

gar'land 

has'ti  ly 

in'ti  m£te 

listen 

gar'nered 

ha'tred 

I'tal  y 

lone'ly 

gawnt 

hawk 

Itai'ian  (yan) 

Iqw'ered 

gayiy 

ha?/'cock 

lut'la  by 

gen'er  al 

hearth 

j&ck'et 

lunch'eon 

gen'tle  man 

heav'y 

jag'ged 

ge  og'ra  phy 

herd 

Ja  pan' 

mag'ic 

(ly) 

hid'^  ous 

jin  rlk'I  sha 

mS,g'ni  fy  Ing 

Ger'man  y 

Hol'land 

jog'gled 

mSn'age 

ghosts 

hol'ly 

jounge 

mSn  u  f&c'ture 

gl'ant 

home'  -craft 

jour'ney 

mar'ble 

gifts 

host 

joy 

Mar  I  ke'na 

gild'ed 

house'  wife 

mask 

gil'15r  flow'er 

howl 

keels 

ma  te'ri  al 

glad'ly 

huge 

ker'nel 

mS-t'tress 

gleam'ing 

bum'ble 

A-neel 

mgant 

glee 

hu'mor  (mer) 

^nock 

meas'tire 

glim'mer 

humph(humf) 

Ko'ran 

(mezh) 

glis'£en  ing 

hun'dred 

mid'day 

gloom 

hun'gry 

lan'guage 

mm'gle 

gob'ble 

hun'ter 

(gwaj) 

min'ute  (It) 

g6r'geous 

lashed 

mir'a  cle 

gqwng 

im'age 

lat'tige 

mlr'Ig 

Grgt'chen 

im  ag'ine 

lawn 

mis'fle  toe 

im  pa'tient 

la'zy 

moan 

Ha'gop 

(sbent) 

leath'er 

mon'key 

ham'mb'ck 

im  por'tant 

leg'glngg 

monk 

hand'some 

In  quire' 

urtd 

mqun'taln  ous 

-»8  222 


mouth'ful 

o  ver  h^ad' 

po  lice'man 

rea'son 

n\owf&r 

o  ver  run' 

(les) 

reck'less 

mul  ti  pli  ca' 

po  lite' 

reefed 

tion  (shun) 

page 

po'ny 

rein'deer 

munching 

Pa  Qif'ic 

poung'ing 

re  mem'ber 

mu  gi'ciari 

pack'age 

prac'ti^e 

re  peat' 

(shan) 

pad'^le 

pra^e 

rest'less 

mus'cle 

pal'a^e 

prattle 

roared 

paZm 

pre'cious 

rock'ers 

Na'ka 

pane 

(presh'us) 

rough'est  (ruf  ) 

N&n  nook' 

par'ent 

pre  fer' 

roy'al 

nar'row 

par'rot 

present  ly 

ru'bies 

nawtf^'ty 

pa'tient(shent) 

pr^  tend'mg 

rud'dy 

near'ty 

pat'ter  ing 

pride 

rul'er 

ne^'bor  hood 

pat'tern 

priest 

rus'set 

(her) 

peak 

pringe 

rustle 

mght'in  gale 

pearl 

prin'gess 

nim'bly 

pea§'ant 

prob'a  bly 

sam'pang 

nip'pers 

pe  cul'iar  (y^r) 

prom'ised 

san'dal 

Nip'pon 

pelt 

pro  tects' 

sap'phire 

No'aA 

pgn'gil 

proud 

(saFlr) 

noise'less  ly 

per  haps' 

prqw'lmg 

scam'pered 

non'sense 

per  sim'mon 

pun'ished 

scarf 

no'tige 

per'son 

pur'ple 

scar'let 

nur'ser  y 

Pil'grims 

seep'tered 

pinched 

quar'rel 

sc6rn 

6  be'di  ent 

plank 

queer'est 

scout 

obey' 

plas'tered 

quilt'gd 

scram'bled 

o'dor  (der) 

plgas'ant 

screen 

often 

plod'ded 

raisin 

scrtib 

6  pos'sum 

plumed 

rap'id 

scur'ried 

o'ri  ole 

plunged 

ra^ 

seal'skin 

out  ISnd'ish 

po'lar  (ler) 

re'al  ly 

seamg 

223 


se  cure'ly 

spar'kled 

strength 

thrgad 

seize 

spars 

stripes 

thrifty 

selfish 

spear 

strip'ped 

throne 

se'pal 

spec'ta  cles 

struggling 

thrtish'gg 

served 

spied 

stiidMgd 

tiffin 

ser'viQe 

splash 

sud'dgn  ly 

tilt'gd 

sev'er  al 

splen'dor  (der) 

sug  ggst'gd 

tm'kle 

se  vere' 

spot'less  ly 

sun'beam 

ti'ny 

shafts 

sprawl'ing 

stip  plied' 

tip'pet 

shan'ty 

sprig 

sup  pose' 

tSd'dle 

shoals 

sprites 

stir  round'gd 

top'mast 

shoe'mak  er 

sprout'ing 

s  \van 

tor'tolse 

shone 

spruge 

swarm 

to'ward  (erd) 

side'wa?k 

squat'ted 

swayed 

tmv'er 

sigh 

squeak 

swift'ly 

tread'mg 

si'lent  ly 

squire 

Swiss 

trem'bled 

silk'en 

squirmed 

Switz'er  land 

trou'bled 

sil'ver  y 

stain 

(swits) 

(trub'led) 

skim'mmg 

staiVciistf 

syr'tip 

trou'sers 

sledge 

stair'  way 

trum'pet 

sleigh 

staZk 

task 

truth 

slige 

state'ly 

tas'sel 

tug'gmg 

snarled 

stead'i  ly 

taw/At 

Tur'key 

sniff 

stealth 

tgn'der  ly 

Tur'klsh 

snout 

stern'ly 

thatehed 

tu'tor  (ter) 

snug 

St.  Nich'6  Las 

thaw 

twee'zers 

sol'dier  (jer) 

(sant  n  Ik) 

Th'eVla 

twm'kllng 

som'er  sawlt 

stout 

therefore 

twitched 

so  me'  what 

strag'glmg 

(thar) 

(hwot) 

strai^At 

thief 

ug'ly 

sor'row  ful 

strand 

thick'et 

tin  Qiv'il 

sov'er  eign 

strange 

thim'ble  ful 

tin  cov'er 

Spain 

strange'ly 

thou'sand 

tin  der  stand' 

224  8«- 


fin  fflr'tu  nate 

vel'vet 

wel'come 

won'der  ful 

un  hap'py 

vil'lag^ 

w8pt 

won'der  land 

un  har'ne'ssed 

vineyard 

wharf  (hwarf) 

won'drous 

un'i  form 

(yerd) 

what  ev'er 

wood'peck  er 

un  kind' 

vl'6  let 

(hwot) 

worse  (wurs) 

U  ra  slii'ma 

vol  ca'no 

wheth'er 

wound 

(she) 

(hweth) 

(woond) 

us^'ful 

watt 

whirling 

wo'v^n 

us^'lgss 

wal'iiut 

(hwirl) 

wreathg 

va  ca'tion 

wal'rus 

whis'pered 

wrig'gl^d 

(sliiin) 

wand 

(Invis) 

wrm'klgd 

vatn 

wan'der  er 

wig'  warn 

vast 

wea'ry 

wige'ly 

yes'ter  da^ 

veg'e  ta  ble 

weave 

wolveg 

yule 

YC  49894 


57585 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


